While this looks simple, many of the details of the construction of the first nuclear devices are still classified. So part of the reason is that simple explan

While this looks simple, many of the details of the construction of the first nuclear devices are still classified. So part of the reason is that simple explanations of the design do not necessarily reflect a simple construction. On the other hand, you get a taste of a story about how John Phillips got his Undergraduate senior thesis classified for being to informative on how to resolve some important technical details around the actual explosive design for a pit based weapon. http://www.universitypressclub.com/archive/2013/02/the-a-bomb-kid-and-hows-your-senior-thesis-going/ http://www.universitypressclub.com/archive/2013/02/the-a-bom... Plutonium is difficult to handle and accumulate in significant quantities. Here is a fun video that gives you an appreciation for the danger and rarity of the element: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLufmakbiU0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLufmakbiU0 *Edit: I linked the wrong youtube video. While the above is fun, this one gives you a better idea about the manufacturing difficulties of working w/ Plutonium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89UNPdNtOoE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89UNPdNtOoE The bottom left corner of the periodic table is apparently filled with wildly interesting elements that do super bad things to your body. They get hard to come by- and in some cases they only get created in the laboratory. Maybe that's for the best.