Fissile Material

Concept of Fissile Material

In relation to securing dangerous material (in case of crisis or terrorism) a meaning of fissile material may be outlined, in general regarding European law, as follows: In nuclear engineering, a fissile material is one that is capable of sustaining a chain reaction of nuclear fission. In the arms control context, the term “fissile” is used to describe materials that can be used in the fission primary of a nuclear weapon. These are materials that sustain an explosive fast fission chain reaction.
Uranium-233, Uranium-235, Plutonium-239 and Plutonium-241 are fissile materials.[1]

Resources

Notes and References

1. Definition of fissile material published by the European Commission