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: But while this is happening, a new fuel is being made! Atoms of plutonium-239 are being produced from atoms of uranium-238. Some reactors are operated primarily to make plutonium, not to make electricity. These reactors are called breeder reactors because they generate new fuel as they operate. By contrast, plutonium-239 can be made fairly easily in nuclear power reactors. It is a by-product, or "waste product," of these reactors. It can be removed from the reactor, purified, and then re-used to make electrical power. Compounds
No plutonium compounds have any commercial application. Plutonium is one of the most toxic elements known. Scientists do not handle it directly.