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Los Alamos Science No. 26, 2000

Challenges in Plutonium Science


Plutonium is arguably the strangest element in the periodic table and the most difficult to handle in the laboratory. While its nuclear fission properties were correctly predicted well before it was first produced at the Berkeley cyclotron, its chemical and condensed matter properties still defy understanding, largely due to the anomalous behavior of the 5f electrons. Nevertheless, it plays a prominent role in nuclear weapons and nuclear energy production. Former Director Sig Hecker opens the volume with the history of plutonium on planet Earth, its use in nuclear weapons and nuclear energy, the challenge of safeguarding weapons-grade plutonium, and efforts to mitigate health and environmental problems resulting from production during the Cold War. The volume goes on to summarize plutonium's condensed matter properties and evidence for its classification as a correlated-electron material. Other topics cover the role of the 5f electrons in producing plutonium's many phases, plutonium aging, plutonium metallurgy, plutonium chemistry, environmentally-conscious plutonium processing, and long-term deposition of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain.

Table of ContentsPDF Size
Covers, Editorial Note, and Table of Contents

224 kB
An Update: Plutonium and Quantum Criticality
George Chapline, James L. Smith
9 kB
In the Beginning
Siegfried S. Hecker
729 kB
A Factor of Millions-Why We Made Plutonium
Siegfried S. Hecker, André F. Michaudon, Ileana G. Buican
1750 kB
Plutonium in Use-From Single Atoms to Multiton Amounts
Siegfried S. Hecker
1261 kB
Plutonium-An Element at Odds with Itself
Siegfried S. Hecker
881 kB
The Plutonium Challenge-Stockpile Stewardship
Siegfried S. Hecker
706 kB
The Plutonium Challenge-Avoiding Nuclear Weapons Proliferation
Siegfried S. Hecker
896 kB
The Plutonium Challenge-Environmental Issues
Siegfried S. Hecker
1316 kB
The Taming of "49"-Big Science in Little Time
Edward F. Hammel
605 kB
Reflections on the Legacy of a Legend-Glenn T. Seaborg
David L. Clark, David E. Hobart
562 kB
From Alchemy to Atoms-The Making of Plutonium
André F. Michaudon
1041 kB
Plutonium and Health-How Great Is the Risk?
George L. Voelz
910 kB
Plutonium Condensed-Matter Physics-A Survey of Theory and Experiment
A. Michael Boring, James L. Smith
992 kB
Actinide Ground-State Properties-Theoretical Predictions
John M. Wills, Olle Eriksson
871 kB
Basics of the Density Functional Theory Approach
John M. Wills, Olle Eriksson
36 kB
Electronic Structure of Alpha and Delta Plutonium-Theory vs Experiment
Aloysius J. Arko, John J. Joyce, John M. Wills
58 kB
A Possible Model for Delta Plutonium-Self-Induced Anderson Localization, Delta-Phase Stability, and the Melting Temperature of Plutonium
Bernard R. Cooper
376 kB
Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Alpha and Delta Plutonium
Aloysius J. Arko, John J. Joyce, Luis A. Morales, Jeffrey H. Terry, Roland K. Schulze
725 kB
Laser-Plasma Light Source-Design and Operation
John J. Joyce, Aloysius J. Arko Luis A. Morales
175 kB
Actinide Photoemission Measurements at the Advanced Light Source
Roland K. Schulze, Jeffrey H. Terry
282 kB
Atomic Vibrations and Melting in Plutonium
Andrew C. Lawson, Barbara Martinez, Joyce A. Roberts, James W. Richardson, Jr., Bard I. Bennett
729 kB
Equations of State-Theoretical Formalism
Bard I. Bennett
19 kB
Microstrain in Delta Prime Plutonium
Andrew C. Lawson
32 kB
Vibrational Softening in Alpha Uranium
Michael E. Manley
208 kB
Elasticity, Entropy, and the Phase Stability of Plutonium
Albert Migliori, Joseph P. Baiardo, Timothy W. Darling
835 kB
Preparing Single Crystals of Gallium-Stabilized Plutonium
Jason C. Lashley, Michael S. Blau, Roger L. Moment
626 kB
A Single-Crystal Saga
Roger L. Moment
511 kB
Aging of Plutonium and Its Alloys
Siegfried S. Hecker, Joseph C. Martz
251 kB
A Tale of Two Diagrams
Siegfried S. Hecker, Lidia F. Timofeeva
350 kB
Surface and Corrosion Chemistry of Plutonium
John M. Haschke, Thomas H. Allen, Luis A. Morales
772 kB
Catalyzed Corrosion of Plutonium: Hazards and Applications
John M. Hschke, Joseph C. Martz
241 kB
Radiation Effects in Plutonium-What Is Known? Where Should We Go from Here?
Wilhelm G. Wolfer
569 kB
Transmission Electron Microscopy of Plutonium Alloys
Thomas G. Zocco
587 kB
Plutonium and Its Alloys-From Atoms to Microstructure
Siegfried S. Hecker
2222 kB
Mechanical Behavior of Plutonium and Its Alloy
Siegfried S. Hecker, Michael F. Stevens
1031 kB
Where Is the Gallium?-Searching the Plutonium Lattice with XAFS
Steven D. Conradson
632 kB
The Chemical Complexities of Plutonium
David L. Clark
1190 kB
Computational Studies of Actinide Chemistry
P. Jeffrey Hay, Richard L. Martin
413 kB
The Chemical Interactions of Actinides in the Environment
Wolfgang H. Runde
1329 kB
Spectroscopies for Environmental Studies of Actinide Species
Wolfgang H. Runde
233 kB
Siderophore-Mediated Chemistry and Microbial Uptake of Plutonium
Mary P. Neu
81 kB
Characterizing the Plutonium Aquo Ions by XAFS Spectroscopy
Steven D. Conradson, David L. Clark, Mary P. Neu, Wolfgang H. Runde, C. Drew Tait
161 kB
XAFS—A Technique to Probe Local Structure
Steven D. Conradson
724 kB
A Vision for Environmentally Conscious Plutonium Processing
Larry R. Avens, P. Gary Eller
2150 kB
Salt Distillation
Eduardo Garcia, Vonda R. Dole, James A. McNeese, Walter J. Griego
68 kB
Hydrothermal Processing
Laura A. Worl, Steven J. Buelow, Dennis D. Padilla
58 kB
Enhanced Pyrolysis for Converting Polystyrene or Cellulose Polymers
Daniel J. Kathios
57 kB
Treatment of Liquid Wastes
Gordon D. Jarvinen, Geraldine M. Purdy, Barbara F. Smith, Thomas C. Robinson
17 kB
Electrochemical Decontamination of Metallic Waste
Douglas E. Wedman, Jerry L. Lugo
139 kB
Molecularly Engineered Resins for Plutonium Recovery
S. Frredric Marsh, D. Kirk Veirs, Gordon D. Jarvinen, Mary E. Barr, Eddie W. Moody
660 kB
Yucca Mountain-Looking Ten Thousand Years into the Future
Roger C. Eckhardt, David L. Bish, Gilles Y. Bussod, June T. Fabryka-Martin, Schön Levy, Paul W. Reimus, Bruce A. Robinson, Wolfgang H. Runde, Inéz Triay, David T. Vaniman
3112 kB
Mesh Generation for Yucca Mountain
Carl W. Gable
188 kB
Colloids-Carriers of Actinides into the Environment

24 kB
Analyzing Volcanic Hazards at Yucca Mountain
Frank V. Perry, Bruce M. Crowe, Greg A. Valentine
140 kB

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