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plutonium-239
Sign in to saveAlso known as Pu-239, 239Pu, plutonium pu-239
Chemical data
- Formula
- Pu
- Molecular weight
- 239.05216 g/mol
- IUPAC name
- plutonium-239
- SMILES
- [239Pu]
- InChIKey
- OYEHPCDNVJXUIW-FTXFMUIASA-N
- Polar surface area
- 0 Ų
- H-bond donors
- 0
- H-bond acceptors
- 0
- Formal charge
- 0
via PubChem
Wikidata facts
- Mass
- 239.052
- Image
- Plutonium-239.svg
Show 11 more facts
- neutron number
- 145
- atomic number
- 94
- half-life
- 24110.0
- spin quantum number
- 0.5
- parity quantum number
- 1
- mass excess
- 48588.282
- binding energy
- 1806916.002
- canonical SMILES
- [Pu]
- chemical formula
- Pu
- isomeric SMILES
- [239Pu]
- Commons category
- Plutonium-239
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~11 min read
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Nuclear properties
- Production
- In nuclear power reactors
- Hazards
- See also
- References
- External links
Plutonium-239 (' or Pu-239) is an isotope of plutonium. Plutonium-239 is the primary fissile isotope used for the production of nuclear weapons, although uranium-235 is also used for that purpose. Plutonium-239 is also one of the three isotopes that have been demonstrated to be usable as fuel in thermal spectrum nuclear reactors, along with uranium-235 and uranium-233. Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,110 years.
== Nuclear properties == The smaller critical mass of plutonium-239, as well as the ability to produce large amounts of nearly pure 239Pu more cheaply than highly enriched weapons-grade uranium-235, led to its use in nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. A fission of an atom of uranium-235 (with 0.720% abundance) in a nuclear reactor produces two to three neutrons, and these neutrons can be absorbed by uranium-238 (with 99.3% abundance) to produce plutonium-239 and other isotopes. Plutonium-239 will also absorb neutrons and fission along with the uranium-235 in a reactor.