While the first stage used uranium isotopes as nuclear fuel in pressurised heavy-water reactors to produce plutonium-239 (Pu-239) and energy, the second stage is more concerned with plutonium fission.

Plutonium-239, the isotope found in the spent MOX fuel, is much more radioactive than the depleted Uranium-238 in the fuel. Plutonium emits alpha radiation, a highly ionizing form of radiation ...

The levels of radioactive plutonium around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant aren’t much higher than the amount of plutonium remaining in the environment from Cold War-era nuclear ...

An isotope of plutonium named plutonium-239 is fissile, which means that it can start a nuclear chain reaction. The United Nations lists it as one of only two radioactive isotopes used to make ...

Captured: The molecular structure of plutonium dioxide-239 Devoted fans can wait hours on the red carpet to get their favourite movie star's autograph, but that's nothing compared to acquiring the ...

Some physicists mentioned plutonium 240, which they thought might be made from the explosive plutonium (Pu-239), or from natural uranium. If it proved inert, like U-238, it could be mixed with Pu ...

Plutonium-239 provides the perfect spark for a thermonuclear blast. CLOSE. Thank you! ... Plutonium-239 is the isotope typically used in nuclear warheads.

Most plutonium on Earth, made in reactors, is plutonium 239. Its nucleus holds 145 neutrons, ... They are not plutonium 239 but the rare 244 isotope, which has 150 neutrons.