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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-238 is a special material that emits steady heat due to its natural radioactive decay. Several unique features of plutonium-238 have made it the material of choice to help produce electrical power for spacecraft.
The recent shipment of heat source plutonium-238 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory to its Los Alamos National Laboratory is a critical step toward fueling planned NASA missions with radioisotope power systems.
Plutonium-238 is a special material that emits steady heat due to its natural radioactive decay. Several unique features of plutonium-238 have made it the material of choice to help produce electrical power for more than two-dozen U.S. space missions that have been enabled by radioisotope power systems (RPS).
Beginning in the late 1950s, the U.S. met this challenge by developing nuclear batteries known as radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and producing plutonium-238 (Pu-238) as their fuel, enabling the exploration of deep space.
Plutonium-238 is the radioisotope of the element plutonium, whose atomic nucleus has 144 neutrons in addition to the element-specific 94 protons, resulting in a mass number of 238: 238 Pu. Pu-238 is a fissile, alpha-emitting isotope that decays to Uranium-238 with a half-life of 87.7 years.
DOE hit a milestone in June in its capacity to package and transport plutonium-238, a key ingredient in radioisotope power systems used in deep space missions from Voyager to the Mars Perseverance rover.
It was synthesized long before being found in nature, the first isotope synthesized being plutonium-238 in 1940. Twenty-one plutonium radioisotopes have been characterized. The most stable are plutonium-244 with a half-life of 80.8 million years; plutonium-242 with a half-life of 373,300 years; and plutonium-239 with a half-life of 24,110 years ...
The Perseverance rover, headed for Mars this summer, carries a plutonium isotope produced at ORNL, the first domestic production in about 30 years. As it decays, Pu-238 will power the rover and its instruments across the planet. Credit: NASA.
the vast distances and intense cold of space. Beginning in the late 1950s, the U.S. met this challenge by developing nuclear batteries known as radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and producing plutonium-238 (Pu-238) as thei.