Plutonium

Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with symbol Pu and atomic number 94.

Description
Plutonium is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, and forms a dull coating when oxidized. It reacts with carbon, halogens, nitrogen, silicon and hydrogen. When exposed to moist air, it forms oxides and hydrides that expand the sample up to 70% in volume, which flake off as a powder that can spontaneously ignite. It is can accumulate in the bones. These properties make the handling of plutonium dangerous.

Plutonium is the heaviest primordial element by virtue of its most stable isotope, Pu -244, whose half-life of about 80 million years is just long enough for the element to be found in trace quantities in nature.

Production and Use
Plutonium is mostly a byproduct of nuclear reactions in reactors where some of the neutrons released by the fission process convert uranium-238 nuclei into plutonium.

Both Pu -239 and Pu -241 can sustain a nuclear chain reaction, leading to applications in nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors. Pu -240 exhibits a high rate of spontaneous fission, limiting a plutonium sample's usability for weapons or as reactor fuel, and the percentage of Pu -240 determines its grade (weapons grade, fuel grade, or reactor grade).

Producing plutonium in useful quantities for the first time was a major part of the Manhattan Project during Earth’s World War II, which developed their first atomic bombs. The first nuclear test, ("Trinity") in July 1945, and the second atomic bomb "Fat Man" used to destroy a city (Nagasaki, Japan, in August 1945), both had cores of Pu-239. Human radiation experiments studying plutonium were conducted without informed consent, and several criticality accidents, some lethal, occurred during and after the war. Disposal of plutonium waste was a nuclear-proliferation and environmental concern.

Plutonium is still a valuable commodity and used in many applications. It is freely traded at the Xchange (Minerals and Metals : Plutonium)

While trading it, has no restriction. Handling and transporting it does and plutoniumis classified as Hazmat 4 and must be handled acording to radioactive material handling procedures.

A ton of plutonium trades for approximately 5500-6500 credits.