These are neutrons that have reached the thermal equilibrium according to the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution after having bounced around many times without undergoing neutron capture.
Good fissile material is material that is able to absorb thermal neutrons and continue the reaction, because that's the type of neutron you end up getting the most of.
Some of the most notable ones:
- 1942: Chicago Pile-1: the first human-made nuclear chain reaction.
- 1943: X-10 Graphite Reactor: an intermediate step between the nuclear chain reaction prototype Chicago Pile-1 and the full blown mass production at Hanford site. Located in the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
- 1944: B Reactor at the Hanford site produced the plutonium used for Trinity and Fat Man
A nuclear reactor made to produce specific isotopes rather than just consume fissile material to produce electrical power. The most notably application being to produce Plutonium-239 for nuclear weapons from Uranium-238 being irradiated from Uranium-235-created fission.
