Required Essay 3 Version 1 (RE3v1)

Write a three-page essay that explains why restricting the availability of nuclear-explosive materials is important for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, using the information in the slides shown in class and in the readings posted on the Reading Assignments page.

Your essay should be at least 2.5 pages in length but must not be longer than 3 pages, when printed in the format specified in the Student Handbook, including the title, headers, and footers. To check this, you should print the exact version you are going to submit. If your paper is longer than 3 pages when printed, it will be given a score of zero.

The Student Handbook provides complete guidance for preparing and submitting writing assignments. Before you turn in your essay, be sure to review the writing assignment submission checklist in the Handbook.

Your essay should have the following structure:

1. An introductory paragraph that lists some of the most important nuclear-explosive materials and explains why restricting their availability is the main way to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
2. A paragraph that lists the isotope requirements for making a uranium weapon and the technologies currently available to produce uranium that meet these requirements.
3. A paragraph that describes the simplest way to create a nuclear explosion using highly enriched uranium.
4. A paragraph that lists the usually quoted isotope requirements for making a plutonium weapon and the technologies currently available to produce plutonium that meet these requirements.
5. A paragraph that explains why the production methods that are optimal for making weapon-grade plutonium are incompatible with efficient power generation.
6. A paragraph that describes how to create a nuclear explosion using weapon-grade plutonium.
7. A short paragraph that compares the effort required to produce weapon-grade uranium and weapon-grade plutonium.
8. A final paragraph that describes why making a bomb using reactor-grade plutonium is more difficult than making a bomb using weapon-grade plutonium. Indicate whether creating an explosion using reactor-grade plutonium is possible.

Citation of sources:

You do not need to use quotation marks or give citations when the information you use is common knowledge. In deciding what is common knowledge, consider what is known by a typical University of Illinois student who is not a student in Physics/Global Studies 280. If in doubt, include a citation.

As the sources you are to use in preparing this essay are clearly specified, there should be no doubt about what sources are being used for this assignment. Nevertheless, for practice we require explicit citations of all sources used for any definitions in the Required Essays.

To save space in the Required Essays, which are only a few pages long, we recommend referring to the pertinent sources using the following styles:

	Class Slides on Nuclear Weapons	[11p280 Weapons, slide 3]
	Physics and Technology of NEM	[NEM, p. 4]
	Reactor-Grade and Weapons-Grade Plutonium in Nuclear Explosives	[DOE Pu Report, p. 2]

You do not need to place standard definitions in quotes, but you do need to give citations for them.

Do not include a bibliography or a list of references. (More complete citations will be required in the Research Paper for sources other than Physics 280 slides.)

• In writing your essay, assume your audience is a typical University of Illinois student who is not a student in Physics 280 and who is therefore unfamiliar with the definitions we use in this course.
• Begin each paragraph with a strong topic sentence.
• Omit any information that is not essential for addressing the points listed above.
• Make your paragraphs clear, concise, and to the point. Avoid repetition and unnecessary words, especially adjectives and adverbs, and use active voice.