{"title":"On the practicalities of producing a nuclear weapon using high-assay low-enriched uranium","authors":"P. Cosgrove, N. Read","doi":"10.1016/j.anucene.2025.111235","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It was recently argued by Kemp et al. that HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium, or uranium enriched up to 19.75%) can conceivably be used to produce a nuclear weapon and on this basis civilian enrichment limits should be lowered to 10% or 12% (Scott Kemp et al., 2024). We find their argument unconvincing in several respects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8006,"journal":{"name":"Annals of Nuclear Energy","volume":"215 ","pages":"Article 111235"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annals of Nuclear Energy","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306454925000520","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
It was recently argued by Kemp et al. that HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium, or uranium enriched up to 19.75%) can conceivably be used to produce a nuclear weapon and on this basis civilian enrichment limits should be lowered to 10% or 12% (Scott Kemp et al., 2024). We find their argument unconvincing in several respects.
期刊介绍:
Annals of Nuclear Energy provides an international medium for the communication of original research, ideas and developments in all areas of the field of nuclear energy science and technology. Its scope embraces nuclear fuel reserves, fuel cycles and cost, materials, processing, system and component technology (fission only), design and optimization, direct conversion of nuclear energy sources, environmental control, reactor physics, heat transfer and fluid dynamics, structural analysis, fuel management, future developments, nuclear fuel and safety, nuclear aerosol, neutron physics, computer technology (both software and hardware), risk assessment, radioactive waste disposal and reactor thermal hydraulics. Papers submitted to Annals need to demonstrate a clear link to nuclear power generation/nuclear engineering. Papers which deal with pure nuclear physics, pure health physics, imaging, or attenuation and shielding properties of concretes and various geological materials are not within the scope of the journal. Also, papers that deal with policy or economics are not within the scope of the journal.