During the Cold War, the US produced hundreds of plutonium pits each year at the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado. However, ...

Two conflicting developments arose this month in US efforts to produce new plutonium pits for its nuclear weapons: The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced it had produced a ...

The component, called a “plutonium pit,” is the radioactive component that acts as a first stage ‘trigger’ apparatus used to initiate the detonation of the thermonuclear device.

The component, called a “plutonium pit,” is the radioactive component that acts as a first stage ‘trigger’ apparatus used to initiate the detonation of the thermonuclear device. Plans call for the W87 ...

Fields, P. R., Gindler, J. E., Harkness, A. L., Studier, M. H., Huizenga, J. R., and Friedman, A. M., Phys. Rev., 100, 172 (1955).

An undated photo capturing the Plutonium Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, with the Rio Grande valley and the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the background. (Photo courtesy of Los Alamos ...

Plutonium-rich samples from Acid Canyon, Los Alamos. Credit: Michael Ketterer. A new study has revealed alarming levels of plutonium contamination near Los Alamos, New Mexico, the site where the ...

As announced by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the First Production Unit ...

Plutonium can migrate downstream, enter water supplies, and be absorbed by plants, eventually making its way into the food ...