< California University cyclotron.
Physics. orig. U.S.
945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes xi. 187 The ‘calutron’ mass separator.
1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes xi. 189 The 37-inch cyclotron was dismantled‥and its magnet was used to produce the magnetic field required in what came to be called a ‘calutron’.
1946 Ann. Reg. 1945 355 An electromagnetic method [of separating 2 isotopes] using a magnetic separator, called a calutron, first constructed from the California University cyclotron.
1956 Nature 28 Jan. 157/1 The calutrons which are now used for enrichment of the isotopes of all the elements. (OED)
In summary, a mass spectrometer that can be used to separate isotopes (in this context, uranium isotopes).
"Despite years of covert operations inside Iran, extensive satellite imagery, and the recruitment of many Iranian intelligence assets, the United States and its allies, including Israel, have been unable to find irrefutable evidence of an ongoing hidden nuclear-weapons program in Iran, according to intelligence and diplomatic officials here and abroad. One American defense consultant told me that as yet there is 'no smoking calutron', although, like many Western government officials, he is convinced that Iran is intent on becoming a nuclear state sometime in the future."
- Seymour M. Hersh, "Iran and the bomb: How real is the nuclear threat?", 6 June 2011 The New Yorker
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