Plutonium's military potential was swiftly recognised. It provided the material for the first nuclear device, detonated at Los Alamos in July , and for the second nuclear bomb, "Fat Man," which was dropped on Nagasaki the following month. The first nuclear bomb, dropped on Hiroshima, used uranium. Not until after World War II were the discoverers of plutonium allowed to publish their findings.
Plutonium's very high energy density also brought it into use in civilian nuclear power, especially after the s oil shocks.
Plutonium has 15 isotopes. The longest-lived is plutonium , which takes The most commonly-used isotopes -- and those found at Fukushima -- are plutonium , with a half life of 88 years; plutonium , with a half life of 24, years; and plutonium , with a half life of 6, years.
Plutonium , and are highly radioactive but their radiation is in alpha particles, which only travels very short distances and cannot penetrate human skin. Where they are highly dangerous is if they are inhaled. Their radiation causes DNA damage in tissue, which then boosts the risk of cancer. The bone marrow and liver, where plutonium is transported through a blood protein called transferring, are especially vulnerable.
Because it emits alpha particles, plutonium is most dangerous when inhaled. When plutonium particles are inhaled, they lodge in the lung tissue. The alpha particles can kill lung cells, which causes scarring of the lungs, leading to further lung disease and cancer. Plutonium can enter the blood stream from the lungs and travel to the kidneys, meaning that the blood and the kidneys will be exposed to alpha particles.
Once plutonium circulates through the body, it concentrates in the bones, liver, and spleen, exposing these organs to alpha particles. Plutonium that is ingested from contaminated food or water does not pose a serious threat to humans because the stomach does not absorb plutonium easily and so it passes out of the body in the feces.
Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Radiation Emergencies. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Radioisotope Brief: Plutonium. Minus Related Pages. What is it used for? Plutonium is considered a man-made element, although scientists have found trace amounts of naturally occurring plutonium produced under highly unusual geologic circumstances.
The most common radioisotopes radioisotopes A form of an element that has the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons in the nucleus, giving it a different atomic mass. For example, uranium has thirty-seven different isotopes, including uranium and uranium Alpha Particles. Half-life : Plutonium 6, years Plutonium 24, years Plutonium Most plutonium in the environment is in the form of microscopic particles that are the remnants of nuclear weapons testing and nuclear reactor accidents.
The microscopic particles from atmospheric nuclear weapons testing are dispersed widely in the environment. As a result, virtually everyone comes into contact with extremely small amounts of plutonium. Plutonium generates significant heat through its radioactive decay radioactive decay The process in which an unstable radioactive nucleus emits radiation and changes to a more stable isotope or element.
Radioisotope thermoelectric generators RTGs utilize radioisotopes such as plutonium to generate power for satellites.
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