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Plutonium: Coping with instability

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Abstract

Plutonium is unstable with time because of its radioactive decay, but it is the peculiar nature of its electronic structure that gives rise to phase instability with temperature, pressure, and chemical additions, making engineering applications particularly challenging. This instability leads to an interesting array of phase transformations and microstructures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. the Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA

    Siegfried S. Hecker (senior fellow, fellow of TMS)

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  1. Siegfried S. Hecker
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For more information, contact Siegfried S. Hecker at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Materials Science and Technology Division, MS G754, Los Alamos, NM 87545; (505) 665-6601; fax (505) 665-4584; e-mail sh@lanl.gov.

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Hecker, S.S. Plutonium: Coping with instability. JOM 55, 13–19 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-003-0022-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-003-0022-1

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