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Plutonium-238 was the first isotope of plutonium to be discovered. It was synthesized by Glenn Seaborg and associates in December 1940 by bombarding uranium-238 with deuterons, creating neptunium-238. 238 92 U + 2 1 H → 238 93 Np + 2 n. The neptunium isotope then undergoes β − decay to plutonium-238, with a half-life of 2.12 days: [6] 238 ...
Plutonium is an element in which the 5f electronsare the transition border between delocalized and localized; it is therefore considered one of the most complex elements.[44] The anomalous behavior of plutonium is caused by its electronic structure. The energy difference between the 6d and 5f subshells is very low.
Reactor-grade plutonium. 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 ...
238 Pu has become the most widely used fuel for RTGs, in the form of plutonium(IV) oxide (PuO 2). [34] However, plutonium(IV) oxide containing a natural abundance of oxygen emits neutrons at the rate of roughly 2.3 × 10 3 n/sec/g of plutonium-238. This emission rate is relatively high compared to the neutron emission rate of plutonium-238 metal.
Demon core. A re-creation of the experiment involved in the 1945 incident. The sphere of plutonium is surrounded by tungsten carbide blocks acting as neutron reflectors. The demon core was a sphere of plutonium that was involved in two fatal radiation accidents when scientists tested it as a fissile core of an early atomic bomb.
Y-12 made lithium-6 deuteride fusion fuel and U-238 parts, the other two ingredients of secondaries. [citation needed] The Hanford Site near Richland WA operated Plutonium production nuclear reactors and separations facilities during World War 2 and the Cold War. Nine Plutonium production reactors were built and operated there.
Weapons-grade nuclear material is any fissionable nuclear material that is pure enough to make a nuclear weapon and has properties that make it particularly suitable for nuclear weapons use. Plutonium and uranium in grades normally used in nuclear weapons are the most common examples. (These nuclear materials have other categorizations based on ...
Glenn Theodore Seaborg (/ ˈsiːbɔːrɡ / SEE-borg; April 19, 1912 – February 25, 1999) was an American chemist whose involvement in the synthesis, discovery and investigation of ten transuranium elements earned him a share of the 1951 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. [3] His work in this area also led to his development of the actinide concept and ...