Title: Plutonium | Encyclopedia.com
Headings: Plutonium (revised)
Plutonium (revised)
PLUTONIUM (REVISED)
Overview
SYMBOL
Pu
ATOMIC NUMBER
94
ATOMIC MASS
244.0642
Discovery and naming
Physical properties
Chemical properties
Occurrence in nature
Isotopes
Extraction
Uses
Using fuel to make fuel
Compounds
Health effects
Plutonium
Plutonium
Bibliography
plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium
plutonium

Content: They have also been used in artificial pacemakers for people with heart conditions. The isotope most commonly used for this application is plutonium-238 because the radiation it gives off does not pose a threat to people's health. Plutonium is also used as a fuel in nuclear power plants and in making nuclear weapons ("atomic bombs"). The isotope used for this purpose is plutonium-239. It is used because it will undergo nuclear fission. Very few isotopes will undergo nuclear fission. Two isotopes of uranium, uranium-233 and uranium-235, are among these. But uranium-233 does not occur at all in nature and uranium-235 occurs in only very small amounts. Using fuel to make fuel
T he production of plutonium fuel (plutonium-239) is a fascinating story. When nuclear reactors were first built, they all used uranium-235 as a fuel.