Back to Inductee Search Glenn T. Seaborg Plutonium Isolation. US Patent No. Born April 19, - Died February 25, Related Inductees. In fact, of the five common isotopes, only two of plutonium's isotopes, plutonium and plutonium, are used for anything at all.
Plutonium is used to make electricity for space probes using radioisotope thermoelectric generators. These generators are switched on when the probes can't get enough solar power because they have traveled too far away from the sun. Some probes that use plutonium are Cassini and Galileo. When concentrated enough, plutonium undergoes a fission chain reaction. Because of this, it is used in nuclear weapons and some nuclear reactors.
In fact, one of the biggest uses for plutonium is energy. According to the World Nuclear Association, over one-third of the energy produced in most nuclear power plants comes from plutonium. Plutonium is the main fuel in fast neutron reactors. For decades, scientists wondered why plutonium didn't act like other metals in its group.
For instance, plutonium is a poor conductor of electricity and it doesn't stick to magnets. Now researchers have figured out where its "missing magnetism" has been hiding out and it has to do with the wacky behavior of the electrons in the element's outer shell.
Unlike other metals, which have a set number of electrons in their outer shells, when in a ground state, plutonium can have four, five or six electrons there. This fluctuating number of outer-shell electrons explains why plutonium isn't magnetic: In order for an atom to interact with magnets the unpaired electrons in its outer shell must line up in a magnetic field. Plutonium's most stable isotope, plutonium, can last a long time. It has a half-life of about 82 million years and decays into uranium through alpha decay, according to the Jefferson Lab.
Plutonium was named after the planet, Pluto. Production was essential for the Manhattan Project and advancing techniques for isotope separation. It is amazing that elements like plutonium exist in nature, and that mankind has determined how to utilize their scientific power.
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All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author. Koshland, "Glenn Seaborg ," Science , Reilly et al. The metal exhibits six allotropic modifications having various crystalline structures. The densities of these vary from The most important isotope of plutonium is Pu, with a half-life of 24, years. Because of its short half-life, there are only extremely tiny trace amounts of plutonium naturally in uranium ores. Fifteen isotopes of plutonium are known. Applications Plutonium is a key fissile component in modern nuclear weapons ; care must be taken to avoid accumulation of amounts of plutonium which approach critical mass , the amount of plutonium which will self-generate a nuclear reaction.
Despite not being confined by external pressure as is required for a nuclear weapon, it will nevertheless heat itself and break whatever confining environment it is in. Shape is relevant; compact shapes such as spheres are to be avoided.
Plutonium could also be used to manufacture radiological weapons. The plutonium isotope Pu is an alpha emitter with a half life of 87 years. These characteristics make it well suited for electrical power generation for devices which must function without direct maintenance for timescales approximating a human life time. Plutonium was used on the Apollo lunar flight in to power seismic devices and other equipment left on the Moon, and it was also the power supply of the two Voyager supercraft launched in Plutonium can also be used as a fuel in a new generation of fast-breeder nuclear weapons, which burn a mixed oxide MOX fuel consisting of uranium and plutonium.
Trace amounts of plutonium are found naturally in uranium-rich ores.
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