October 31 - November 3, 2004
Element of the Day
Thursday, October 7
The isotope 238Pu was produced
in 1940 by Seaborg, McMillan, Kennedy, and Wahl by deuteron bombardment of
uranium in the 60-inch cyclotron at Berkeley, California. Plutonium was the
second trans-uranium element of the actinide series to be discovered. By far of
greatest importance is the isotope 239Pu, which has a half-life of more than
20000 years. One kilogram is equivalent to about 22 million kilowatt hours of
heat energy. The isotope 233Pu was used in the American Apollo lunar missions to
power seismic and other equipment on the lunar surface. Plutonium contamination
is an emotive environmental problem. Standard state: solid at 298 K · Color:
silvery white · Classification: Metallic