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Plutonium-242 is not fissile, nor very fertile (requiring 3 more neutron captures to become fissile); and has a low neutron capture cross section, and a longer half-life than any of the lighter isotopes. Plutonium-244 is the most stable isotope of plutonium, with a
The main decay mode for isotopes heavier than 244 Pu, along with 241 Pu and 243 Pu, is beta emission, forming americium isotopes (95 protons). Plutonium-241 is the parent isotope of the neptunium series, decaying to americium-241 via beta emission. [11] [26] Plutonium-238 and 239 are the most widely synthesized isotopes.
or Pu-239) is an isotope of plutonium. Plutonium-239 is the primary fissile isotope used for the production of nuclear weapons, although uranium-235 is also used for that purpose. Plutonium-239 is also one of the three main isotopes demonstrated usable as fuel in thermal spectrum nuclear reactors, along with uranium-235 and uranium-233.
Plutonium-238 (238 Pu or Pu-238) is a radioactive isotope of plutonium that has a half-life of 87.7 years.. Plutonium-238 is a very powerful alpha emitter; as alpha particles are easily blocked, this makes the plutonium-238 isotope suitable for usage in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and radioisotope heater units.
Plutonium-240 (240 Pu or Pu-240) is an isotope of plutonium formed when plutonium-239 captures a neutron. The detection of its spontaneous fission led to its discovery in 1944 at Los Alamos and had important consequences for the Manhattan Project. [3] 240 Pu undergoes spontaneous fission as a secondary decay mode at a small but significant rate.
In 2000, a wildfire burned one-third of the 580-square-mile (1,502-square-kilometer) Hanford site, which produced plutonium for the U.S. atomic weapons program and is considered the nation's most ...
Watchdogs are raising new concerns about legacy contamination in Los Alamos, the birthplace of the atomic bomb and home to a renewed effort to manufacture key components for nuclear weapons. A ...
Letters to the editor on the history of plutonium, Project 2025, ageism on the Benton Commission, Trump, syphilis, drug laws and Hanford. | Opinion