What are plutonium properties?
Chemical properties of plutonium – Health effects of plutonium – Environmental effects of plutonium
| Atomic number | 94 |
|---|---|
| Density | 19.84 g.cm-3 at 20°C |
| Melting point | 641 °C |
| Boiling point | 3232 °C |
| Vanderwaals radius | unknown |
What are 3 physical properties of plutonium?
Physical, Nuclear, and Chemical Properties of Plutonium
| Color: | silver |
|---|---|
| Melting point: | 641 deg. C |
| Boiling point: | 3232 deg. C |
| Density: | 16 to 20 grams/cubic centimeter |
What are the advantages of plutonium?
Plutonium, both that routinely made in power reactors and that from dismantled nuclear weapons, is a valuable energy source when integrated into the nuclear fuel cycle. In a conventional nuclear reactor, one kilogram of Pu-239 can produce sufficient heat to generate nearly 8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity.
How much does 1 kg of plutonium cost?
Since the energy per fission from plutonium-239 and uranium-235 is about the same, the theoretical fuel value of fissile plutonium can be put at $5,600 per kilogram. Reactor-grade plutonium also contains non-fissile isotopes, reducing its value to about $4,400 per kilogram.
Can you hold pure plutonium?
A: Plutonium is, in fact, a metal very like uranium. If you hold it [in] your hand (and I’ve held tons of it my hand, a pound or two at a time), it’s heavy, like lead. It’s toxic, like lead or arsenic, but not much more so.
Why is plutonium so rare?
The reason that plutonium (and other transuranic elements) are so rare in nature is that being radioactive, they decay with a characteristic half-life. Any element formed at that time with a half-life much less than the Earth’s age–or 4.5 billion year–has nearly all decayed into lighter elements by now.