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Content: It is therefore used in RTGs such as those powering the Galileo and Cassini space probes. Plutonium-238 was used on the Apollo-14 lunar flight in 1971 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 1977. Plutonium-239 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. Plutonium in the environment
Trace amounts of plutonium are found naturally in uranium-rich ores. Humans produce most of the existing plutonium, in special nuclear reactors. Besides being naturally present in very small amounts, plutonium may also enter the environment from releases of nuclear reactors, weapons production plants, and research facilities. A major source of plutonium release is nuclear weapons testing. Annual world production of plutonium is probably in excess of 50 tonnes and there may be more than 1.000 tonnes of metal in storage, either as bombs or as metal rods. Health effects of plutonium
Plutonium is sometimes described in media reports as the most toxicsubstance known to man, although there is general agreement among experts in the field that this is incorrect. As of 2003, there has yet to be a single human death officially attributed to plutonium exposure.