Title: Fukushima: what is plutonium and what are the dangers?
Headings: Fukushima: what is plutonium and what are the dangers?
Fukushima: what is plutonium and what are the dangers?
Content: HISTORY
Plutonium was found by US scientists in 1940. The new element was named after Pluto, the god of the Roman underworld, and assigned the abbreviation of Pu in the periodic table. It is one of the most complex elements, for it is a metal yet does not conduct heat or electricity well. Only a slight rise in temperature makes it switch from solid state similar to cast iron to plastic malleability. FISSILE MATERIAL
Plutonium's military potential was swiftly recognised. It provided the material for the first nuclear device, detonated at Los Alamos in July 1945, and for the second nuclear bomb, "Fat Man," which was dropped on Nagasaki the following month. The first nuclear bomb, dropped on Hiroshima, used uranium. Not until after World War II were the discoverers of plutonium allowed to publish their findings. Plutonium's very high energy density also brought it into use in civilian nuclear power, especially after the 1970s oil shocks. ISOTOPES
Plutonium has 15 isotopes.