plutonium

plutonium (Pu), radioactive chemical element of the actinoid series of the periodic table, atomic number 94. It is the most important transuranium element because of its use as fuel in certain types of nuclear reactors and as an ingredient in nuclear weapons. Plutonium is a silvery metal that takes on a yellow tarnish in air.

The element was first detected (1941) as the isotope plutonium-238 by American chemists Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, and Arthur C. Wahl, who produced it by deuteron bombardment of uranium-238 in the 152-cm (60-inch) cyclotron at Berkeley, California. The element was named after the then planet Pluto. Traces of plutonium have subsequently been found in uranium ores, where it is not primeval but naturally produced by neutron irradiation.

All plutonium isotopes are radioactive. The most important is plutonium-239 because it is fissionable, has a relatively long half-life (24,110 years), and can be readily produced in large quantities in breeder reactors by neutron irradiation of plentiful but nonfissile uranium-238. Critical mass (the amount that will spontaneously explode when brought together) must be considered when handling quantities in excess of 300 grams (2/3 lb). The critical mass of plutonium-239 is only about one-third that of uranium-235.

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Plutonium and all elements of higher atomic number are radiological poisons because of their high rate of alpha emission and their specific absorption in bone marrow. The maximum amount of plutonium-239 that can be indefinitely maintained in an adult without significant injury is 0.008 microcurie (equal to 0.13 microgram [1 microgram = 10⁻⁶ gram]). Longer-lived isotopes plutonium-242 and plutonium-244 are valuable in chemical and metallurgical research. Plutonium-238 is an alpha-emitting isotope that emits a negligible amount of gamma rays; it can be manufactured to harness its heat of radioactive decay to operate thermoelectric and thermionic devices that are small, lightweight, and long-lived (the half-life of plutonium-238 is 87.7 years). The power produced from plutonium-238 alpha decay (approximately 0.5 watt per gram) has been used to provide spacecraft electrical power (radioisotope thermoelectric generators [RTGs]) and to provide heat for batteries in spacecraft, such as in the Curiosity rover.

Plutonium exhibits six forms differing in crystal structure and density (allotropes); the alpha form exists at room temperature. It has the highest electrical resistivity of any metallic element (145 microhm-centimetres). Chemically reactive, it dissolves in acids and can exist in four oxidation states as ions of characteristic colour in aqueous solution: Pu³⁺, blue-lavender; Pu⁴⁺, yellow-brown; PuO₂⁺, pink; PuO₂²⁺, yellow or pink-orange; and Pu⁷⁺, green. Very many compounds of plutonium have been prepared, often starting from the dioxide (PuO₂), the first compound of any synthetic element to be separated in pure form and in weighable amounts (1942).