The Processing of Weapons Grade Plutonium

Name of Element : Plutonium

Symbol: Pu
Atomic Number: 94
Atomic Mass: (244.0) amu
Melting Point: 639.5 °C - 912.65 °K
Boiling Point: 3235.0 °C - 3508.15 °K
Number of Protons/Electrons: 94
Number of Neutrons: 150
Crystal Structure: Monoclinic
Density @ 293 K: 19.84 g/cm3
Color: bright silvery



Plutonium exists in uranium ore in traces. But it can be synthesized. There are 20 radioactive isotopes have been analysed and catalgued by the boffins. The longest-lived are plutonium-244, with a half-life of 80.8 million years, plutonium-242, with a half-life of 373,300 years, and plutonium-239, with a half-life of 24,110 years. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 7,000 years. Aha we is getting to be boffins now onwards. So what we do is get some Pu 239 huh? Get a bit of uranium235 do a bit of fission to it to get a neutron out of it and add some U 238 we have a bit of U239 which will beta decay to turn the neutron to a proton to give you Np-239 (neptunium) and another short beta decay to produce Pu 239. Then to get Pu238 process is different. We get a bit of deutoron and hit U238 and 2 neutrons to get Np 238 which spontaneusly beta decay to give you a handful of PU238.

Well thats all I know



The efficiency and volatality of Uranium depends on the number of neutrones the nucleus carry, though it is the same element.











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