Re: How is your chemistry these days?

"Keith Morrison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

> One common error that I expected when I saw it: plutonium is found
> in nature.

I emailed them today about natural Plutonium on Earth. They emailed back &
said they checked some reference material to confirm it & will update their
site. Very respectworthy of them.


There is some Pu-244 left over from the formation of the Earth & some
Pu-239. The Pu-239 is produced in natural Uranium deposits. Some Uranium
undergoes spontaneous fission, releasing neutrons. Some of the neutrons are
captured by U-238 atoms, producing U-239. The U-239 beta decays to Np-239,
which in turn beta decays to Pu-239. Also, in Uranium ores with significant
amounts of Beryllium, the alphas emitted from the Uranium, and some of its
daughter isotopes, cause the Beryllium to emit neutrons, leading to Pu-239
as above.

Karl Johanson