(ELI5) I just read that plutonium is very rare. I have little to no knowledge of science etc. where in the natural world does it come from? How do you source it?
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It doesn’t, other than trace amounts. We *made* it, by irradiating uranium with neutrons. The simplest route is U-238 + n –> U-239* –> neptunium-239 –> Pu-239.
It doesn’t, other than trace amounts. We *made* it, by irradiating uranium with neutrons. The simplest route is U-238 + n –> U-239* –> neptunium-239 –> Pu-239.
It doesn’t, other than trace amounts. We *made* it, by irradiating uranium with neutrons. The simplest route is U-238 + n –> U-239* –> neptunium-239 –> Pu-239.
There is no natural source of plutonium. It is artificially made in nuclear reactors by bombarding uranium with neutrons. Then, the resulting plutonium is purified.
Hence, why it is super rare.
There is no natural source of plutonium. It is artificially made in nuclear reactors by bombarding uranium with neutrons. Then, the resulting plutonium is purified.
Hence, why it is super rare.
There is no natural source of plutonium. It is artificially made in nuclear reactors by bombarding uranium with neutrons. Then, the resulting plutonium is purified.
Hence, why it is super rare.
short answer: almost all the plutonium we have is manufactured in a nuclear reactor.
longer answer: radioactive elements, basically, are unstable. they want to fall apart into a more stable format. when uranium is used in a reactor, it undergoes fission (splitting), with the atom shedding protons and neutrons in an attempt to reach a more “stable” state.
One of the decay chains leads to Plutonium, a more unstable and radioactive material than uranium, which makes it possible to make smaller bombs form it as you need less materail to reach critical mass.
this higher instability is why its extremely rare in nature. it decays into something else.
short answer: almost all the plutonium we have is manufactured in a nuclear reactor.
longer answer: radioactive elements, basically, are unstable. they want to fall apart into a more stable format. when uranium is used in a reactor, it undergoes fission (splitting), with the atom shedding protons and neutrons in an attempt to reach a more “stable” state.
One of the decay chains leads to Plutonium, a more unstable and radioactive material than uranium, which makes it possible to make smaller bombs form it as you need less materail to reach critical mass.
this higher instability is why its extremely rare in nature. it decays into something else.
short answer: almost all the plutonium we have is manufactured in a nuclear reactor.
longer answer: radioactive elements, basically, are unstable. they want to fall apart into a more stable format. when uranium is used in a reactor, it undergoes fission (splitting), with the atom shedding protons and neutrons in an attempt to reach a more “stable” state.
One of the decay chains leads to Plutonium, a more unstable and radioactive material than uranium, which makes it possible to make smaller bombs form it as you need less materail to reach critical mass.
this higher instability is why its extremely rare in nature. it decays into something else.
As the others are saying, we make Plutonium by adding Neutrons to Uranium.
For this you have to know that an atom’s core is made up of Protons and Neutrons. Tue number of Protons is what defines which element it is. So if we add one neutron to Uranium, but that neutron then decays into an Proton and an Electron, we have effectively added one Proton to it – changing it into Plutonium.
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