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Plutonium(IV) oxide, or plutonia, is a chemical compound with the formula Pu O 2. This high melting-point solid is a principal compound of plutonium . It can vary in color from yellow to olive green, depending on the particle size, temperature and method of production.
When heated to 150–180 °C, it decomposes with autooxidation to plutonium (VI) with the formation of plutonyl nitrate (PuO 2 (NO 3) 2).Upon evaporation of concentrated nitric acid solutions of plutonium nitrate and alkali metal nitrates, double nitrates of the composition M 2 [Pu(NO 3) 6] are formed, where M = Cs +, Rb +, K +, Tl +, NH 4 +, analogous to ceric ammonium nitrate.
Reactor-grade plutonium (RGPu) [1] [2] is the isotopic grade of plutonium that is found in spent nuclear fuel after the uranium-235 primary fuel that a nuclear power reactor uses has burnt up. The uranium-238 from which most of the plutonium isotopes derive by neutron capture is found along with the U-235 in the low enriched uranium fuel of ...
Additionally, the formal +2 oxidation state of plutonium is known in the complex [K(2.2.2-cryptand)] [Pu II Cp″ 3], Cp″ = C 5 H 3 (SiMe 3) 2. [37] A +8 oxidation state is possible as well in the volatile tetroxide PuO 4. [38] Though it readily decomposes via a reduction mechanism similar to FeO 4, PuO 4 can be stabilized in alkaline ...
It is the acid anion that influences the degree of complexing—how atoms connect to a central atom—of the plutonium species. Additionally, the formal +2 oxidation state of plutonium is known in the complex [K(2.2.2-cryptand)] [Pu II Cp″ 3], Cp″ = C 5 H 3 (SiMe 3) 2. [5] A +8 oxidation state is possible as well in the volatile tetroxide ...
Plutonium in the delta (δ) phase [8] normally exists in the 310 °C to 452 °C range but is stable at room temperature when alloyed with a small percentage of gallium, aluminium, or cerium, enhancing workability and allowing it to be welded in weapons applications. The δ phase has more typical metallic character and is roughly as strong and ...
All plutonium isotopes are either fissile or fertile, although plutonium-242 needs to absorb 3 neutrons before becoming fissile curium-245; in thermal reactors isotopic degradation limits the plutonium recycle potential. About 1% of spent nuclear fuel from current LWRs is plutonium, with approximate isotopic composition 52% 239 94 Pu, 24% 240 94 Pu
Weapons-grade plutonium is defined as containing no more than 7% 240 Pu; this is achieved by only exposing 238 U to neutron sources for short periods of time to minimize the 240 Pu produced. Plutonium is classified according to the percentage of the contaminant plutonium-240 that it contains: Supergrade 2–3%; Weapons grade 3–7%; Fuel grade ...