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PLUTONIUM 239
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A highly fissionable isotope of plutonium that is used in atomic weapons and as a reactor fuel; produced by irradiating uranium 238 with slow electrons
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("plutonium 239" is a kind of...):
atomic number 94; plutonium; Pu (a solid silvery grey radioactive transuranic element whose atoms can be split when bombarded with neutrons; found in minute quantities in uranium ores but is usually synthesized in nuclear reactors; 13 isotopes are known with the most important being plutonium 239)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plutonium 239"):
weapons-grade plutonium; weapons plutonium (plutonium 239 that is recovered when nuclear weapons are disassembled; it is stored in plutonium pits)
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