Why didn they use fission technology?
The biggest problem for the scientists of the Great Academy of Valhalla in building a fission reactor is the lack of fuel available to them. Europe, outside of the Soviet Union, does not have deposits of uranium from which enriched uranium 235 fuel is produced for a conventional fission reactor. They tried to research the theories of American nuclear physicist Bernard Cohen in producing breeder reactors using uranium 238 from sea water but failed. Knowing that something is theoretically possible and building it are two different things. This is why they are looking to reverse engineer American technology.
