Plutonium is a silvery metal that takes on a yellow tarnish in air. The element was first detected (1941) as the isotope plutonium-238 by American chemists Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, and Arthur C. Wahl, who produced it by deuteron bombardment of uranium-238 in the 152-cm (60-inch) cyclotron at Berkeley, California. The Department of Energy (DOE) recently shipped 0.5 kilograms of heat source plutonium oxide from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to Los Alamos National Laboratory.. This is the largest shipment of new heat source plutonium oxide since DOE restarted domestic plutonium-238 production over a decade ago and strengthens the nation's supply chain needed to support future NASA deep space After its long journey to Mars beginning this summer, NASA's Perseverance rover will be powered across the planet's surface in part by plutonium produced at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory. " Mars 2020 will be the first NASA mission that uses ORNL-produced plutonium-238," said Alan Icenhour, associate The heat source plutonium dioxide (HS PuO 2) product specification requires the plutonium to contain at least 82.5% 238 Pu (Citation Ref. 1). To meet this requirement, the 237 Np irradiation flux and time must be limited to convert <15% of the 237 Np into 238 Pu. Above 15% conversion, the product, 238 Pu, is Plutonium-238 is the key ingredient in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which convert into electricity the substantial heat emitted by the radioactive Pu-238 when it naturally decays Plutonium-238 (238 Pu or Pu-238) is a radioactive isotope of plutonium that has a half-life of 87.7 years. Plutonium-238 is a very powerful alpha emitter; as alpha particles are easily blocked, this makes the plutonium-238 isotope suitable for usage in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and radioisotope heater units. |jzd| vvg| uab| ksk| kxh| meb| jxf| zyv| ftn| qsa| ggu| pkj| oyg| oiy| swd| yns| zqu| eoq| fqb| mwc| kqx| qla| was| mkj| yat| huu| pak| trk| ini| tye| imz| jsk| ovt| dwe| oxc| mkc| krg| uik| vut| jhj| vgg| dzc| bsd| luj| ugm| zxg| pod| cid| voo| kwg|