http://bzuiam.webs.com/

2. Muhammad Umair Bukhari
Engr.umair.bukhari@gmail.com
www.bzuiam.webs.com
03136050151

3.  Transuranic radioactive chemical element
 Symbol Pu
Atomic Number 94
 It is an actinide
 Appearance silvery-gray
 A byproduct of nuclear fission in reactors
where some of the neutrons released by
the fission process convert uranium-238 nuclei
into plutonium.

4.  Plutonium-239 and plutonium-241 are
both fissile, (meaning the nuclei of their atoms
can split when bombarded by
thermal neutrons, releasing energy, gamma
radiation and more neutrons.)

5.  Discovery: 1940
 Dr.Glenn T.Seaborg, Edwin.M McMillan,
J. W.kennedy, and A.C.Wahl
 University of California Berkeley
 Name Origin: After the planet Pluto
 Crystal Structure: Monoclinic

6.  Pu-236 2.87 yrs
 Pu-237 45.2 days
 Pu-238 87.7 years
 Pu-239 24100.0 years
 Pu-240 6560.0 years
 Pu-241 14.4 years
 Pu-242 375000.0 years
 Pu-243 4.95 hours (Min.)
 Pu-244 8.0E7 years (Max.)
 Pu-245 10.5 hours
 Pu-246 10.85 days

7.  During World War II the U.S. government
established the Manhattan Project, which was
tasked with developing an atomic bomb
 The first production reactor that made
plutonium-239 was the X-10 Graphite Reactor.
It went online in 1943
 The original Gun Type plutonium weapon,
code-named “Thin Man",
 Soon changed to the more complicated
implosion device, code-named “Fat Man."

8.  Explosives
 Plutonium-239 fissile component in Nuclear Weapons , due to its
ease of fission.
 The “Fat Man"–type plutonium bombs produced during
the Manhattan Project used plutonium to obtain efficiency.
 Thus only 6.2 kg of plutonium was needed for an explosive
yields equivalent to 20 kilotons of TNT.
 Hypothetically, as little as 4 kg of plutonium (and maybe even
less) could be used to make a single atomic bomb using very
sophisticated assembly designs.

9.  The isotope Plutonium-238 has a half-life of 87.74 years.
 Emits a large amount of thermal Energy with low levels of
both gamma rays/particles .
 One Kilogram of the isotope can generate about 570 watts of heat.
 These characteristics make it well-suited for electrical power
generation.
 Used in Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators

10. Toxicity
 Isotopes and compounds of plutonium
are accumulate in Bone marrow.
 Plutonium is more dangerous when
inhaled than when ingested.
 The risk of Lung Cancer increases
radiation dose inhaled plutonium
exceeds 400 mSv.

11.  Metallic plutonium is a fire hazard, especially if
the material is finely divided.
 In a moist environment,
plutonium forms hydrides
on its surface, which may
ignite in air at room
temperature.