Plutonium(IV) Oxide - Applications

Applications

PuO₂, along with UO₂, is used in MOX fuels for nuclear reactors. Plutonium-238 dioxide is used as fuel for several deep-space spacecraft such as the 'New Horizons' Pluto probe. The isotope decays by emitting α-particles which then generate heat (see radioisotope thermoelectric generator). There have been concerns that an accidental orbital earth re-entry might lead to the break-up and/or burn-up of a spacecraft, resulting in the dispersal of the plutonium, either over a large tract of the planetary surface or within the upper atmosphere.

Physicist Peter Zimmerman, following up a suggestion by Ted Taylor, demonstrated that a low-yield (1-kiloton) nuclear weapon could be made relatively easily from plutonium oxide.