Medical Definition of Fissile material
1.
Material containing a large number of easily fissionable nuclei which give off multiple neutrons in the fission process. Usual meaning is that if a sufficiently large amount of fissile material is put together, a fission chain reaction can occur. Sometimes used synonymously with fissionable material, i.e., material that can be fissioned (though often under restricted circumstances, such as only with thermal (slow) neutrons). A more restricted meaning use of fissile material limits the concept to those materials which can be fissioned by neutrons of all energies (fast & slow).
Examples include Uranium-235 and Plutonium-239.
(09 Oct 1997)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Fissile Material
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