• minnow@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    Yes, “weapons grade” has a higher purity being almost entirely made of fissile isotope Pu-239

    “Reactor grade” has a greater variety of isotopes.

    The functional difference is that the higher purity is required to make nuclear bombs, hence “weapons grade.” Purity was a significant hurdle in nuclear arms development and one if the reasons the US got the bomb before Germany or the USSR which both struggled to get sufficient purity.