Plutonium is an artificial element created by the process of neutron activation in a reactor. Uranium is a naturally-occurring element like silver or iron and is mined from the earth. Nuclear reactors are initially fuelled by uranium (usually in the form of metal-clad rods). However, the prime use of plutonium-239 and uranium-235, and the reason they were produced in the first place, is to make nuclear weapons. Inside a nuclear reactor, the fissions are slower and more spread out, and the resulting heat is used to boil water, to make steam, to turn turbines which generate electricity. Inside a warhead, trillions of such fissions occur inside a small space within a fraction of a second, resulting in a massive explosion. That is, their nuclei split apart giving off very large amounts of energy. Some radioactive materials (such as plutonium-239 and uranium-235) spontaneously fission in the right configuration. Nuclear materials may also get into the wrong hands and be used to make a crude nuclear device or a so-called ‘dirty bomb’. After all, the UK’s first nuclear power stations were built primarily to provide fissile material for nuclear weapons during the Cold War. But there is always the danger that countries acquiring nuclear power technology may subvert its use to develop a nuclear weapons programme. Because countries like the UK are promoting the expansion of nuclear power, other countries are beginning to plan for their own nuclear power programmes too. There is a danger that more nuclear power stations in the world could mean more nuclear weapons. Plutonium is a by-product of the nuclear fuel cycle and is still used by some countries to make nuclear weapons. For example, the process of enriching uranium to make it into fuel for nuclear power stations is also used to make nuclear weapons. The long list of links includes their histories, similar technologies, skills, health and safety aspects, regulatory issues and radiological research and development. CND will continue to campaign to stop new nuclear power stations from being built, as well as for an end to nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons and nuclear power share several common features and there is a danger that having more nuclear power stations in the world could mean more nuclear weapons. The links between nuclear power and nuclear weapons
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