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Plutonium, like other actinides, readily forms a dioxide plutonyl core (PuO 2). In the environment, this plutonyl core readily complexes with carbonate as well as other oxygen moieties (OH −, NO 2 −, NO 3 −, and SO 4 2−) to form charged complexes which can be readily mobile with low affinities to soil. [citation needed] PuO 2 (CO 3) 1 2 ...
Trace amounts of plutonium-238, plutonium-239, plutonium-240, and plutonium-244 can be found in nature. Small traces of plutonium-239, a few parts per trillion , and its decay products are naturally found in some concentrated ores of uranium, [ 54 ] such as the natural nuclear fission reactor in Oklo , Gabon . [ 55 ]
Currently, the activities of the nuclear reprocessing industry have been subject to great debate as one of the fears of those opposed to the industry is that large amounts of plutonium will be either mismanaged or released into the environment. In the past, one of the largest releases of plutonium into the environment has been nuclear bomb testing.
The environmental management field office pointed to a 2018 DOE study that estimated the radiation dose to a person who might recreate in the canyon is less than 0.1 millirem per year.
One of four example estimates of the plutonium (Pu-239) plume from the 1957 fire at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant. The Rocky Flats Plant, a former United States nuclear weapons production facility located about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Denver, caused radioactive (primarily plutonium, americium, and uranium) contamination within and outside its boundaries. [1]
After putting out the original source, there was an explosion in the ventilation system. The fire burned the filters that normally removed the plutonium from the building's air resulting in the release of 21 curies of plutonium into the atmosphere. [26]: 22, 23 For comparison the Fat Man, used 448 curies of plutonium for its core.
Letters to the editor on the history of plutonium, Project 2025, ageism on the Benton Commission, Trump, syphilis, drug laws and Hanford. | Opinion
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-239 has a half-life of 24,110 years. [1]