Nuclear Reactors

Nuclear Reactors in the National Security Context

A definition and brief description of Nuclear Reactors in relation to national security is as follows:Complex devices in which fissionable elements such as uranium, thorium, or plutonium are made to undergo a sustainable nuclear chain reaction. This chain reaction releases energy in the form of radiation that (a) sustains the chain reaction; (b) transmutes (i.e., alters the nuclear characteristics of) nearby atoms, including the nuclear fuel itself; and (c) may be harvested as heat. Nuclear spectroscopy A powerful tool in the arsenal of scientists and forensic investigators because it allows detailed study of the structure of matter based upon the reactions that take place in excited atomic nuclei.