Nuclear Weapons Are Relatively Easy To Make, Assuming the Requisite Nuclear Materials Are Available.

Fission explosives can be made with a few kilograms of plutonium, high-enriched uranium, or uranium–233. Assuming sufficient material is available for a fast critical mass, the yield of a fission explosive device will depend on the quality of the fissionable materials used and, most importantly, on the design. The design and fabrication of a simple, transportable, fission explosive is not a technically difficult task.

The most effective type of radiological weapon appears to be a plutonium dispersal device. Such a device requires much less plutonium and is simpler to make than a fission explosive.

The effects of a nuclear weapon depend on the characteristics of the device and the target area. The effects of a crude, low-yield fission explosive can be sufficiently intense and widespread to kill tens of thousands of people and cause hundreds of millions of dollars of property damage. A plutonium dispersal device can cause radioactive contamination and a serious health hazard until costly and difficult clean-up operations are complete.

The Use of Nuclear Energy To Generate Electric Power Will Result in Very Large Flows, in Various Nuclear Fuel Cycles, of Materials that Can Be Used To Make Nuclear Weapons.

By 1980 tens of thousands of kilograms of nuclear weapon materials will be present in the U.S. nuclear power industry (and several thousands of