Rapid Fire
Element Plutonium
- 16 Dec 2023
- 1 min read
Plutonium, a radioactive element, was first produced and isolated at the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, Edwin M. McMillan, and Arthur C. Wahl in 1940.
- They produced it by bombarding uranium-238 with deuterium nuclei (alpha particles).
- Plutonium production was essential for the Manhattan Project (a top-secret program to make the first atomic bombs during World War II).
- Its basic chemistry is closely related to uranium.
- Plutonium-239, an isotope of plutonium, could undergo fission and be used as fuel for an atomic bomb.
- Plutonium is also a key material in the development of nuclear power. I
