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Is plutonium the result of of the alpha decay of uranium?
Yes, plutonium is typically formed as a result of the alpha decay of uranium in nuclear reactors or in nuclear weapons. It can also be produced artificially in nuclear reactors by bombarding uranium-238 with neutrons.
How common is plutonium?
Plutonium is relatively rare in nature and is typically produced artificially in nuclear reactors. It is a radioactive element and is mainly used in nuclear weapons and reactors. Due to its toxicity and potential for use in nuclear weapons, there are strict regulations and controls on the production and use of plutonium.
How abundant is plutonium?
Plutonium is a rare element found in trace amounts in nature, primarily as a byproduct of nuclear reactors. It is artificially produced for use in nuclear weapons and reactors. While not abundant naturally, there are stockpiles of plutonium worldwide due to nuclear activities over the past several decades.
What are their advantages and disadvantages of Nuclear and Breeder Reactors?
You can't compare and contrast nuclear reactors and breeder reactors, any more than you can compare a lion with a mammal. A lion is one example of many mammals; a breeder reactor is just one example of many types of nuclear reactor.
Why does plutonium not exist naturally?
Plutonium does not exist naturally in large amounts because it is not produced via conventional nuclear reactions in significant quantities. Any trace amounts found in nature are remnants of past supernova explosions or from decay of uranium. Most plutonium is artificially produced in nuclear reactors or through particle accelerators.
How rare is plutonium U 235?
Plutonium-235 is relatively rare compared to plutonium-239, which is the more common isotope of plutonium. Plutonium-235 makes up less than 1% of naturally occurring plutonium. It is typically produced in nuclear reactors through the neutron capture process.
Is plutonium an alloy?
No, plutonium is not mined. Plutonium can be found accompanying uranium minerals but only in insignificant traces. Plutonium is obtained as an industrial product in nuclear reactors.
How is plutonium used in nuclear reactors?
Plutonium is used in nuclear reactors as a nuclear fuel (as dioxide, carbide or MOX). The isotopes 239Pu and 241Pu are fissionable with thermal neutrons; other isotopes are fissionable only with fast neutrons.
Where plutonium foun d?
Plutonium is found in the nature only as ultra-traces accompanying uranium minerals. Plutonium is obtained in industrial quantities in the nuclear reactors technology, by reprocessing of the burned nuclear fuels.
Is plutonium 239 man made or natural?
Plutonium-239 is not found in nature in significant quantities and is primarily produced in nuclear reactors as a byproduct of nuclear fission reactions. It is a man-made element that is typically created for use in nuclear weapons and reactor fuel.
Is there a substitute for uranium for nuclear reactors?
Only plutonium! Is that any better?Actually all the transuranics can make suitable fuel for nuclear reactors, especially Americium. The Integral Fast Breeder(IFB) reactor was designed to reprocess Uranium and all the transuranics produced into fuel rods onsite, leaving only the short lived fission products as waste, which would only require storage for a couple centuries (not hundreds of thousands of years as current waste with the transuranics still in it does). Some of these fission products have industrial and/or medical uses and would be worth separating from the waste.
How is plutonium found in nature?
Plutonium can be found accompanying uranium minerals but only in insignificant traces. Plutonium is obtained as an industrial product in nuclear reactors. A low pollution from nuclear facilities or nuclear weapons tests exist in the environment now. The chemical form is probably plutonium dioxide.
