Plutonium, Our Country's Only Feasible Solution Abstract: Should we begin to manufacture one of the most destructive and infamous substances on the face on the Earth once again? The engineers say yes, but the public says no. The United States stopped making this element with the ban on manufacturing nuclear weapons. But with the continuing problem with our ever diminishing energy sources, some want us to begin using more nuclear energy and less energy from natural resources. This paper is going to discuss what plutonium is, the advantages and disadvantages of its use, and why we should think about restarting our production of this useful element. After the United States dropped "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" on Japan ending World War II, the public has had some type of understanding about the power of plutonium and its devastating properties, but that is all anyone heard. After WWII, Americans started to think about what the atomic bomb could do to the U.S. and its people. When anyone mentioned plutonium or the word "nuclear" the idea of Hiroshima or Nagasaki being destroyed was the first thing people thought about. No one could even ponder the idea that it could be used for other more constructive things like sources of energy or to kept a person's heart beating. Then we started to build more reactors and produce more of the substance but mostly for our nuclear weapons programs. Along with reactors, sometimes comes a meltdown which can produce harmful effects if it isn't controlled quickly enough. After such instances as the Hanford, Washington reactor meltdown and the accident in the U.S.S.R. at the Chernobyl site, no one wanted to hear about the use of plutonium. The United States government banned nuclear testing and also ended the production of plutonium.(Ref. 5) Now we are in a dilemma. We are in need of future sources of energy to power our nation. We are running out of coal and oil to run our power plants.
, the element plutonium.... Plutonium can be very advantageous for the United States. ... Plutonium 239 can be used to power nuclear reactors. ... (ref. 2) Plutonium can also be recycled by using a enrichment process. ... (ref. 2) There are basically three ways plutonium can hurt humans. ...
Seaborg, discovered the element plutonium. ... Plutonium can be very advantageous for the United States. ... Plutonium 239 can be used to power nuclear reactors. ... Plutonium can also be recycled by using a enrichment process. ... The last beneficial use for plutonium is for cardiac pacemakers. ...
, the element plutonium.... Plutonium can be very advantageous for the United States. ... Plutonium 239 can be used to power nuclear reactors. ... (ref. 2) Plutonium can also be recycled by using a enrichment process. ... (ref. 2) There are basically three ways plutonium can hurt humans. ...
It seemed an appropriate topic because I am presently studying World War 2 in my Social Studies Class. ... Robert Oppenheimer (Wood 2). ... Another type of atomic bomb was also constructed using the synthetic element plutonium. ... These reactors manufactured plutonium by bombarding uranium-238 with neutrons. ... The fissionable material used in the Nagasaki bomb was plutonium 239. ...
(Outlaw 2) At the time, Uranium-235 was hard to extract. ... "(2) Scientists at Columbia University solved this difficult problem. A "massive enrichment laboratory/plant"(Outlaw 2) was built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. ... "(2) After this process was completed, "Ernest O. ... "(2) Finally, a gas centrifuge was used to further separate the Uranium-235 from the Uranium-238. ...
(Outlaw 2) At the time, Uranium-235 was hard to extract. ... "(2) Scientists at Columbia University solved this difficult problem. A "massive enrichment laboratory/plant"(Outlaw 2) was built at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. ... "(2) After this process was completed, "Ernest O. ... "(2) Finally, a gas centrifuge was used to further separate the Uranium-235 from the Uranium-238. ...
This one a more powerful bomb, made from plutonium, nicknamed "Fat Man." ... Roosevelt, received a letter form Albert Einstein on August 2, 1939, stating that his field of physics had opened up a new possibility for extremely powerful bombs, and that the Germans were currently in the process of trying to build one. ... Plutonium was also found to used in fission. ... To create the explosion there needed to be a sphere of high explosives around a small ball of plutonium, this creates the plutonium to implode inwards. This allowed the plutonium to reach supercritical mass, and create a cha...
., where U-238 was irradiated with neutrons and changed into plutonium. The plutonium was sent to Los Alamos. ... (Szasz 26) If the plutonium correctly fissioned, the tank would be vaporized. ... The plutonium bomb, "Fat Man," was dropped on the city. ... id=pcZ8g7DjAzA&bids=6424&type=2&subid=0" >. ...
