Reply To: Proliferation?

[Elling]

What is a proliferation risk really ?
In your above scenario, the bad guy needs to get his hands on natural uranium or yellowcake in the first place. This is probably not too difficult given the ongoing uranium mining boom.
Weapons grade material (Highly Enriched Uranium HEU and synthetic Plutonium Pu239) are still state secrets and the books are kept down to the last gram.
Our bad guy could get fast neutrons in a number of ways from other hitech restricted areas, not just from a DPF. Fast neutronics are still a highly sophisticated science requiring huge machinery and megabuck investment.
To make weapons grade materials, he stills needs all the centrifuges.

Getting Deuterium in purified gas form for injection into the DPF might be achievable for our bad guy.
Transforming a pB11 DPF device into a D-D reactor might also be achievable. But how do you collect your neutrons bursting out of your vacuum ?
He risks killing himself handling neutrons. Even suicide bombers would hesitate to get killed before the deed.

All things considered, DPF devices does not add to the present proliferation risk.