Neptunium Tested for Yet Another H-bomb

For the first time ever, a radioactive material other than plutonium or uranium has been used to achieve a nuclear chain reaction. Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory announced that they used neptunium-237 to achieve "criticality," which can lead to yet another H-bomb design. Neptunium is a waste byproduct of nuclear reactor operation and is extracted when waste fuel is reprocessed. Because it is so accessible, the scientists at Los Alamos have expressed concern over the proliferation risks of neptunium. The lab contends that it's only because of these worries that it is planning to conduct experiments to establish the material's "full range of capabilities."