Critical mass
Smallest amount of fissile material needed to sustain a nuclear reaction / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article is about nuclear fission reactions. For other uses, see Critical mass (disambiguation).
In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fission cross-section), density, shape, enrichment, purity, temperature, and surroundings. The concept is important in nuclear weapon design.
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