Not collaborators: Cowards.

“Canada has as advanced arms and aerospace industry, and likely has experts in nuclear weapons design, so could begin manufacturing weapon components very quickly - within days to a few weeks. One could expect an emergency capability weapon to be available in a few months.”

19/19

“The main problem with using this in a weapon is the exposure of crews handling the weapon to radiation and the more rapid aging of components from neutrons. But this only becomes an issue over decades. It could be done, and serve until
WG-plutonium became available a couple of months later.

18/19

“Canada's existing [2018] inventory of spent fuel rods contains over 200 tonnes of plutonium (enough for at least 30,000 weapons). This plutonium is not "weapons grade" being 70% Pu-239, 28% Pu-240, 0.5% Pu-241, and 1.5% Pu-242. But it can actually be used to make modern thermonuclear weapons

17/19

“If a sudden decision to build an arsenal were made, the fuel rods necessary to build it could be withdrawn to begin cooling, but plutonium from old fuel rods could be processed immediately in existing glove-box lines to get material for an emergency capability device.

16/19

“In addition, each of its operating CANDU reactors contains about 2 kg of tritium in its heavy water which can be extracted, a total of around 40 kg, enough for several thousand boosted primaries.

15/19

“Canada has the capacity to produce enough weapon-grade plutonium to make 10 bombs a day. At any given moment the amount of weapon-grade plutonium in Canada's power reactors is enough for several hundred bombs.

14/19

“Canada has 45 GW (thermal) of installed CANDU reactors that are ideally designed for plutonium production, being fueled with natural uranium on-line. If the CANDU fuel bundles were changed out after a month in a reactor instead of almost a year, then weapon-grade plutonium can be extracted.

13/19

“Chalk River developed the BUTEX plutonium separation process in the 1940s that was operated on a large scale by Britain at Windscale until 1976. Chalk River has glove-box lines that have processed plutonium.

12/19

“Although Canada does not have a spent fuel reprocessing plant, its Chalk River Laboratories has advanced experience with radioisotopes, manufacturing them commercially, and is a world leader in research on advanced nuclear fuel cycles.

11/19

“Canada has one of most advanced nuclear technology bases in the world, having been an important partner in the Manhattan Project, is the world leading supplier of medical isotopes, and has been a world supplier of heavy water and nuclear power reactors.

10/19

“The Manhattan Project developed emergency capability devices which were unsuited for regular military service, leading U.S. nuclear weapons to drop to zero in the year after the end of the War. The first device tested by most nations that have done so were not fieldable weapons.

9/19

“There is a vast difference between an emergency capability device, assembled as quickly as possible … and a device that is intended for long term service in a … national arsenal.

8/19

“First - a scenario where [Canada] would want to do this is difficult to construct. [Alas, things have changed - DB].

“Defining the scenario under which Canada would be motivated to develop nuclear weapons is critical because it determines what one means by "developing nuclear weapons.”

7/19

My fellow techie friends here might be interested in a deeper dive into the details of such a project. This excellent summary is from author Carey Sublette, and was posted on Quora six years ago, when Trump first held office. I’m not an expert, so more qualified readers are welcome to kibitz:

6/19

Canada can even slyly reveal this as a plan to assist Trump and thereby comply with his demand that Canada spend more on defense. It can thus position itself as a strong and continuing US ally, while making crystal clear that its sovereignty is absolutely not for the easy taking.

5/19

Nothing would go further to counter Trump’s vile threats than having a credible ability to defend itself. Just announcing a nuke will be like inserting control rods into the atomic pile of hate and lies that is Trump’s brain. Although it might be wise not to announce anything until it’s ready.

4/19

Building an army sufficient to deter Trump would take years, but Canada has the technology to have nuclear weapons in just a few months if it wants to. It doesn’t need a lot of them. Ten bombs would probably be enough, 25 more than enough. As you will learn below, Canada can easily do this.

3/19

Yes nukes. To deter not only Russia, which already claims vast swaths of the Canadian Arctic, but also the US, a former friend that has gone berserk after a severe head injury. And now may not only refuse to defend Canada against Russia, but is openly making threats to seize Canada for itself.

2/19