plutonium

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Financial, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

Related to plutonium: plutonium 239

plutonium

(Pu) [ploo-to´ne-um]

a chemical element, atomic number 94, atomic weight 242. (See Appendix 6.)

plu·to·ni·um (Pu),

(plū-tō'nē-ŭm),

A transuranium artificial radioactive element, atomic no. 94, atomic wt. 244.064. The best-known α-emitting isotope is ²³⁹Pu (half-life 24,110 years) which, like ²³⁵U, is fissionable and can be used in atomic bombs and nuclear power plants; ²³⁸Pu (half-life 87.74 years) is used as an energy source in pacemakers. Pu ions are bone-seekers; ingestion is a radiation hazard, as with radium and radiostrontium.

[planet, Pluto]

plu·to·ni·um

(Pu) (plū-tō'nē-ŭm)

A transuranium artificial radioactive element, atomic no. 94, atomic wt. 244.064. The best-known α-emitting isotope is ²³⁹Pu (half-life 24,110 years), which, like ²³⁵U, is fissionable and can be used in atomic bombs and nuclear power plants; ²³⁸Pu (half-life 87.74 years) is used as an energy source in pacemakers. Pu ions are bone seekers; ingestion is a radiation hazard as with radium and radiostrontium.

[planet, Pluto]

plutonium

A highly poisonous, radioactive metallic element produced from uranium in atomic breeder reactors and used as a fissile element in nuclear weapons. Plutonium concentrates in the bones where it remains for many years.

Mentioned in ?

References in periodicals archive ?

Keeping track of nuclear material involves calculations at each stage of the re-processing, which involves cutting up spent nuclear fuel rods, dissolving them in acid and separating the solution into three streams of uranium, plutonium and high-level waste.

Sellafield's missing plutonium

All members of the committee agree that the margin of uncertainty over the risks of plutonium "could extend over at least an order of magnitude".

NUCLEAR CANCER SHOCKER; Plutonium risk 10 times higher than first feared

In a public speech in May, the president said, as if he were addressing Kim Jong-il, "You're hungry and you can't eat plutonium."

Rolling blunder: how the Bush administration let North Korea get nukes

Subsequent documents obtained by Tri-Valley CAREs revealed a DOE proposal to also ship plutonium in DT-22s to the Savannah River plant.

DOE drops plutonium transport plan

"We won't be convinced this plutonium discharge is safe until BNFL employees let their children swim in the bay."

N-WASTE IS DUMPED IN CLYDE; Plutonium threat sparks fury

In 1945, diagnosed with cancer, he was injected with plutonium days before portions of his liver and spleen were removed.

Looking Back in Anger

They have never said the plutonium levels were in error.

Plutonium Pancakes

Most of the separated civil plutonium has been created at commercial fuel reprocessing plants in Britain and France, to which various other countries, especially Germany and Japan, have been sending some of the spent fuel from their commercial uranium-fueled reactors, expecting to eventually use the returned plutonium as reactor fuel.

Confronting the Paradox in Plutonium Policies

The deal calls for Canada to accept a "small" shipment of nine nuclear fuel rods from the US, containing approximately 120 grams of plutonium, according to a US Department of Energy (DOE) statement.

Plutonium imports to proceed

THE European Commission has launched an inquiry after a shipment of radioactive plutonium bound for a French nuclear plant, turned up in Oxfordshire.

Plutonium shipment discovery inquiry

Two British scientists inhaled plutonium in an experiment to mimic the effects of a nuclear accident, it emerged yesterday.

Scientists inhale plutonium to copy a nuclear accident

About 30 members of South Korea's leading environmental movement group staged a rally Friday in front of the Japanese Embassy here to protest Japan's planned shipment of plutonium expected to pass through the Korea Strait.