AR: (APA) Alchemical Fission

Alchemy: Reductive Production
Alchemy is a progenitor of modern chemistry – and mundane chemistry was eventually able to perform alchemy, creating elements like Plutonium from scratch. Arcane alchemy returns to its roots, but with no loss of mundane explosive capacity. The production of one element to another is called "fission" and "fusion" not simply as physics descriptions, but as a nod that magic is performing those functions at a quantum level.

Reductive Production is alchemical fission, splitting a single element into two others. The most famous of these processes is the one long sought by alchemists since recognizing the metallic similarities between lead and gold. Alchemical fission is far more than a search for riches, however; it the magical ability to find elements that are plentiful and provide a source for elements that are scarce.

The Volatility of Alchemy
In both fission and fusion alchemy, there are increasingly sophisticated methods for creating the transformation desired. The simplest modes use the biggest brute-force magic and has the highest chance for catastrophic accidents.

Increasing the knowledge of mundane chemistry and nuclear science allows refining the arcane approach, with more efficient and safer forms of elemental conversion.

A great deal of the preparation in these routines is creating a cast that will loop int the containment itself, ensuring the transformation magic never exceeds the containment. If they're doing it right, it will be efficient enough that the transformation would be undetectable to outside observers (for instance, those with neutron detectors). The less efficient containment results in more leakage. The least efficient, usually when attempting to transform an impure target, will result in an uncontained, magically-driven fission reaction (which is likely to result in both a blast and a crater visible from space).

Yes, alchemy can be weaponized.

Skill levels
 * 10: Atomic analysis
 * 15: Basic containment
 * 20: Single-body transformation
 * 25: Single-stage transformation, at user-selected step down level
 * 35: Lower containment needs
 * 45: Increased impurity tolerance
 * 55: Non-explosive fault tolerance
 * 65: Single-cast, multi-stage step downs
 * 75: Zero-containment targeted transformation