To make a nuclear bomb, uranium needs to be enriched so that 20% of it is uranium 235, and for nuclear bombs, that figure needs to be nearer 80 or 90%. The critical mass of enriched uranium is around 50kg.3 Enrichment can be done by crushing and grounding uranium or by injecting groundwater and oxygen into the rock to extract the uranium.1 Fission is one of the scientific processes that helps create nuclear energy, and nuclear fission occurs when neutrons bombard atomic nuclei and split them, releasing massive amounts of energy. The most efficient technique is to spin uranium inside a centrifuge, but spinning uranium powder will make a mess. To get yellow cake into a more useful gaseous form, researchers in white coats follow a simple recipe: heat it to burn off impurities, then expose it to hydrogen fluoride to make uranium tetrafluoride.
Caption this Meme