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Plutonium alloys can be produced by adding a metal to molten plutonium. If the alloying metal is reductive enough, plutonium can be added in the form of oxides or halides. The δ phase plutonium–gallium alloy (PGA) and plutonium–aluminium alloy are produced by adding Pu(III) fluoride to molten gallium or aluminium, which has the advantage ...
Plutonium (Pu, atomic number 94), first synthesized in 1940, is another such element. It is the element with the largest number of protons (atomic number) to occur in nature, but it does so in such tiny quantities that it is far more practical to synthesize it. Plutonium is known mainly for its use in atomic bombs and nuclear reactors. [4]
Weapons made with reactor-grade plutonium would require special cooling to keep them in storage and ready for use. [27] A 1962 test at the U.S. Nevada National Security Site (then known as the Nevada Proving Grounds) used non-weapons-grade plutonium produced in a Magnox reactor in the United Kingdom.
Plutonium-238 has a half-life of 87.7 years and emits alpha particles. It is a heat source in radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which are used to power some spacecraft. Plutonium isotopes are expensive and inconvenient to separate, so particular isotopes are usually manufactured in specialized reactors.
The pits of the first nuclear weapons were solid, with an urchin neutron initiator in their center. The Gadget and Fat Man used pits made of 6.2 kg of solid hot pressed plutonium-gallium alloy (at 400 °C and 200 MPa in steel dies – 750 °F and 29,000 psi) half-spheres of 9.2 cm (3.6 in) diameter, with a 2.5 cm (1 in) internal cavity for the initiator.
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 ...
However, plutonium can be stabilized in the δ phase by alloying it with a small amount of another metal. The preferred alloy is 3.0–3.5 mol.% (0.8–1.0 wt.%) gallium. Pu–Ga has many practical advantages: [1] stable between −75 and 475 °C, very low thermal expansion, low susceptibility to corrosion (4% of the corrosion rate of pure ...
Tell the whole story of plutonium’s use. Our entire region should be extremely proud of the B Reactor. A massive edifice, built in a year, under tight security. The B Reactor is an underutilized ...