Click here to make tpub.com your Home Page

Page Title: Other uses of plutonium
Back | Up | Next

Click here for thousands of PDF manuals

Google


Web
www.tpub.com

Home

   
Information Categories
.... Administration
Advancement
Aerographer
Automotive
Aviation
Construction
Diving
Draftsman
Engineering
Electronics
Food and Cooking
Logistics
Math
Medical
Music
Nuclear Fundamentals
Photography
Religion
   
   

 



Radiological Safety Training for Plutonium Facilities
DOEHDBK11452001
Student's Guide
The actual nuclide and quantity produced depend
on the source material, type of reactor, and length of
irradiation time.
The reactor grade, with its higher Pu-240 content,
presents a much higher gamma and neutron dose rate
than does the weapons grade. The reason is that the
Pu-240 has more than 1000 times the spontaneous
fission rate than does the Pu-239. Pu-241 and Pu-242
also have a much higher spontaneous fission rate.
The prompt gammas and neutrons from the
spontaneous fission and the fission product gammas
produce a much higher overall dose rate for the
reactor grade material.
Table 1 shows the approximate weight
percentages of the three grades of plutonium.
In November 1946, the first nuclear reactor to use
separated out plutonium as fuel, called Clementine,
was activated at Los Alamos. Since more plutonium
can be bred during the operation of the reactor, the
country's nuclear fuel reserves could be greatly
increased as a result.
Table 1
Approximate Weight Percentages of Predominant Nuclides
Nuclide
Heat-Source
Weapons Grade
Reactor Grade
Pu-238
90.0
<0.05
1.5
9.1
93.6
58.1
Pu-239
24.1
Pu-240
0.6
6.0
0.4
11.4
Pu-241
0.03
<0.05
4.9
Pu-242
<0.01
D. Other uses of plutonium
Plutonium can also be used in neutron detectors
and neutron sources, as well as in the production of
other man-made elements.
5


Privacy Statement - Press Release - Copyright Information. - Contact Us

Integrated Publishing, Inc. - A (SDVOSB) Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business