Should we begin to manufacture one of the most destuctive and infamous .
substances on the face of 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 it's .
use, and why we should think about restarting the production of this useful element.
In 1941, a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, dicovered something .
that would chang our planet forever. The man's name, Glenn T. Seaborg, discovered the .
element plutonium. Plutonium or Pu #94 on the periodic table, is one of the most unstable .
elements on the Earth. It is formed when Uranium 235, another highly unstable element, .
absorbs a neutron. Plutonium is a silvery-white metal that has a very high density of .
19.816 g/cm3. It has been rarely found in the earth's crust but the majority of the .
substance has to be produced in the cores of nuclear reactors.Plutonium can be found .
fifteen different forms, or isotopes and their mass number can range from 232-246. .
Radionuclide batteries used in pacemakers use Pu-238, while Pu-239 is used in reactors .
and for Nuclear weapons. This paper will focus on the isotopes Pu-238 and Pu-239.
Plutonium can be very advantageous for the United States. It can be used for several .
purposes. The three major advantages to using this element are for an energy source, .
power for nuclear propulsion in space exploration and thermo-electric generators in .
cardiac pacemakers. The first use for plutonium, nuclear power, is obviously the most.
beneficial use. Plutonium 239 can be used to power nuclear reactors. The average nuclear .
reactor contains about 325 kilograms of plutonium within its uranium fuel.
, 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. ...
, 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. ...
, 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" >. ...
