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A comment on Moldova Shuts Down Bootleg Helicopter Factory. Parent comment

Re:Moldova Shuts Down Bootleg Helicopter Factory by Khelavaster on Thursday July 02, 2020 @12:55AM (#23710131)
But enriching uranium isn't rocket science. You gassify uranium as uranium hexifluoride, centrifuge it, extract the heavier (uranium-238) fraction, and then turn the uranium-238-enriched gas into solid uranium oxide (recycle the fluorine).
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Re:Moldova Shuts Down Bootleg Helicopter Factory by 01100011 on Thursday July 02, 2020 @01:27AM (#23710293)
It's not rocket science, and there are other methods available as well. It does take a lot of energy and time though. Probably easier for a low tech setup to just bombard U-238 with thermal neutrons.

Once you get enough U-235, just use beryllium to reflect the neutrons back in and add a moderator(water, graphite, etc). Just don't be anywhere near it when it finally goes critical.

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Re:Moldova Shuts Down Bootleg Helicopter Factory by grandinj on Thursday July 02, 2020 @02:46AM (#23710628)
But working with fluorine compounds is seriously dangerous, and the process requires literally hundreds of centrifuges working day and night for months to produce the required amounts of 238
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