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Plutonium
Plutonium

Plutonium is a rare transuranic radioactive chemical element. It is an actinide metal of silvery-white appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when plutonium oxide....
-244 has a halflife of 80 million years. This is longer than any of the other isotopes of plutonium
Isotopes of plutonium

Plutonium has no stable isotopes. A standard atomic mass cannot be given....
 and longer than any actinide
Actinide

According to IUPAC nomenclature, the actinoid series encompasses the 15 chemical elements that lie between actinium and lawrencium included on the periodic table, with atomic numbers 89 - 103....
 except for the three naturally abundant ones U-235
U-235

U235 or U-235 may be:* German submarine U-235, a German U-boat of World War II* Uranium-235, an isotope of uraniumbang bang there goes the ship...
 (700my), U-238
U-238

U238 or U-238 may be:* German submarine U-238, a German World War II U-Boat * Uranium-238, the most common isotope of uranium...
, and thorium-232
Thorium-232

Thorium-232 is the primary abundant nuclide of thorium. It is a slightly unstable radionuclide that is found in the earth's crust. It is a fertile material able to absorb a neutron and undergo Nuclear transmutation into a nuclide that is able to support nuclear fission ....
, longer than any other isotope
Isotope

Isotopes are any of the different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different atomic mass . Isotopes of an element have atomic nucleus with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutron....
s except samarium
Samarium

Samarium is a chemical element with the symbol Sm and atomic number 62....
-146 (103my), potassium
Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
-40 (1.25by), and a number of nearly stable isotopes with halflives much longer than the age of the universe
Age of the universe

The age of the universe is the time elapsed between the Big Bang and the present day. Current theory and observations suggest that this is between 13.61 and 13.85 1000000000 years....
.

Some studies have claimed to detect a few atoms of primordial
Primordial

Primordial may refer to:* Primordial , Irish black metal band* Primordial sea * Primordial elements * Primordialism* Primordial dwarfism* Primordials are characters from the role-playing game Exalted by White Wolf, Inc....
 Pu-244. As the age of the Earth
Age of the Earth

Modern Geology and geophysicists consider the age of the Earth to be around 1 E17 s This age has been determined by Radiometric dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and Earth's moon Moon rock....
 is about 50 half-lives, the amount of Pu-244 left would be very small.






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Plutonium
Plutonium

Plutonium is a rare transuranic radioactive chemical element. It is an actinide metal of silvery-white appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when plutonium oxide....
-244 has a halflife of 80 million years. This is longer than any of the other isotopes of plutonium
Isotopes of plutonium

Plutonium has no stable isotopes. A standard atomic mass cannot be given....
 and longer than any actinide
Actinide

According to IUPAC nomenclature, the actinoid series encompasses the 15 chemical elements that lie between actinium and lawrencium included on the periodic table, with atomic numbers 89 - 103....
 except for the three naturally abundant ones U-235
U-235

U235 or U-235 may be:* German submarine U-235, a German U-boat of World War II* Uranium-235, an isotope of uraniumbang bang there goes the ship...
 (700my), U-238
U-238

U238 or U-238 may be:* German submarine U-238, a German World War II U-Boat * Uranium-238, the most common isotope of uranium...
, and thorium-232
Thorium-232

Thorium-232 is the primary abundant nuclide of thorium. It is a slightly unstable radionuclide that is found in the earth's crust. It is a fertile material able to absorb a neutron and undergo Nuclear transmutation into a nuclide that is able to support nuclear fission ....
, longer than any other isotope
Isotope

Isotopes are any of the different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different atomic mass . Isotopes of an element have atomic nucleus with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutron....
s except samarium
Samarium

Samarium is a chemical element with the symbol Sm and atomic number 62....
-146 (103my), potassium
Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
-40 (1.25by), and a number of nearly stable isotopes with halflives much longer than the age of the universe
Age of the universe

The age of the universe is the time elapsed between the Big Bang and the present day. Current theory and observations suggest that this is between 13.61 and 13.85 1000000000 years....
.

Some studies have claimed to detect a few atoms of primordial
Primordial

Primordial may refer to:* Primordial , Irish black metal band* Primordial sea * Primordial elements * Primordialism* Primordial dwarfism* Primordials are characters from the role-playing game Exalted by White Wolf, Inc....
 Pu-244. As the age of the Earth
Age of the Earth

Modern Geology and geophysicists consider the age of the Earth to be around 1 E17 s This age has been determined by Radiometric dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and Earth's moon Moon rock....
 is about 50 half-lives, the amount of Pu-244 left would be very small. However, since Pu-244 cannot be easily produced by natural neutron capure in low neutron activity environment of uranium ores (see below), its presence is difficult to explain by any other means than creation by r-process
R-process

The r-process is a nucleosynthesis process occurring in core-collapse supernovae responsible for the creation of approximately half of the neutron-rich Atomic nucleus that are Heavy metals....
 nucleosynthesis in supernovae
Stellar nucleosynthesis

Stellar nucleosynthesis is the collective term for the atomic nucleus reactions taking place in stars to build the nuclei of the Chemical element heavier than hydrogen....
.

Unlike Pu-238, Pu-239, Pu-240, Pu-241, and Pu-242, 244Pu is not produced in quantity by the nuclear fuel cycle
Nuclear fuel cycle

The nuclear fuel cycle, also called nuclear fuel chain, is the progression of nuclear fuel through a series of differing stages. It consists of steps in the front end, which are the preparation of the fuel, steps in the service period in which the fuel is used during reactor operation, and steps in the back end, which are ne...
, because further neutron capture
Neutron capture

Neutron capture is a kind of nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus collides with one or more neutrons and they merge to form a heavier nucleus....
 on 242Pu produces 243Pu which has a short halflife (5 hours) and quickly beta decay
Beta decay

In nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle is emitted. In the case of electron emission, it is referred to as beta minus , while in the case of a positron emission as beta plus ....
s to americium
Americium

Americium is a synthetic element that has the symbol Am and atomic number 95. A radioactive decay metallic element, americium is an actinide that was obtained in 1944 by Glenn T....
-243 before having much opportunity to further capture neutrons in any but very high neutron flux environments.