Workers Using Glovebox (radioactive Compounds)
by U.s. Dept. Of Energy/science Photo Library
Title
Workers Using Glovebox (radioactive Compounds)
Artist
U.s. Dept. Of Energy/science Photo Library
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Workers using a glovebox to handle radioactive plutonium compounds at a processing plant at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, USA. Plutonium (atomic number 94, symbol Pu) is almost exlusively a man-made substance, although a minute quantity of its major isotope, Pu-239, is formed by the decay of uranium, the heaviest naturally- occurring element. Pu-239 undergoes nuclear fission (splitting) into smaller nuclei, a process that is accompanied by a vast release of energy. Hence its use as an explosive in atomic bombs and as a fuel in nuclear reactors. Plutonium is highly toxic and a potent carcinogen (cancer-forming agent), even in minute quantities.
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February 16th, 2021
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