Plutonium-241

Plutonium-241, ²⁴¹Pu
General
Decay mode	Decay energy (MeV)
β−	0.0208
α	~5
	Isotopes of plutonium ; Complete table of nuclides

Plutonium-241 (²⁴¹Pu or Pu-241) is an

cross section about one-third greater than that of ²³⁹Pu, and a similar probability of fissioning on neutron absorption, around 73%. In the non-fission case, neutron capture produces plutonium-242

. In general, isotopes with an odd number of neutrons are both more likely to absorb a neutron, and more likely to undergo fission on neutron absorption, than isotopes with an even number of neutrons.

Decay to Americium

²⁴¹Pu has a

nuclear waste

on a scale of hundreds or thousands of years.

lanthanides, strontium, caesium, barium, yttrium, and is therefore not recycled into nuclear fuel

unless special efforts are made.

In a

fissile

isotope.

Decay to Uranium

In a rare case (0.00244%), Pu-241 can also Alpha decay to Uranium-237 with a Q value (nuclear science) of approximately 5 MeV.

Actinides and fission products by half-life v t e
Actinides^[2] by decay chain				Half-life range (a)	Fission products of ²³⁵U by yield^[3]
4n	4n + 1	4n + 2	4n + 3	Half-life range (a)	4.5–7%	0.04–1.25%	<0.001%
²²⁸Ra^№				4–6 a		¹⁵⁵Eu^þ
²⁴⁴Cm^ƒ	²⁴¹Pu^ƒ	²⁵⁰Cf	²²⁷Ac^№	10–29 a	⁹⁰Sr	⁸⁵Kr	^113mCd^þ
²³²U^ƒ		²³⁸Pu^ƒ	²⁴³Cm^ƒ	29–97 a	¹³⁷Cs	¹⁵¹Sm^þ	^121mSn
248Bk^[4]	²⁴⁹Cf^ƒ	^242mAm^ƒ		141–351 a	No fission products have a half-life in the range of 100 a–210 ka ...
	²⁴¹Am^ƒ		251Cf^ƒ^[5]	430–900 a
		²²⁶Ra^№	²⁴⁷Bk	1.3–1.6 ka
²⁴⁰Pu	²²⁹Th	²⁴⁶Cm^ƒ	²⁴³Am^ƒ	4.7–7.4 ka
	²⁴⁵Cm^ƒ	²⁵⁰Cm		8.3–8.5 ka
			²³⁹Pu^ƒ	24.1 ka
		²³⁰Th^№	²³¹Pa^№	32–76 ka
²³⁶Np^ƒ	²³³U^ƒ	²³⁴U^№		150–250 ka	⁹⁹Tc^₡	¹²⁶Sn
²⁴⁸Cm		²⁴²Pu		327–375 ka		⁷⁹Se^₡
				1.53 Ma	⁹³Zr
	²³⁷Np^ƒ			2.1–6.5 Ma	¹³⁵Cs^₡	¹⁰⁷Pd
²³⁶U			²⁴⁷Cm^ƒ	15–24 Ma		¹²⁹I^₡
²⁴⁴Pu				80 Ma	... nor beyond 15.7 Ma^[6]
²³²Th^№		²³⁸U^№	²³⁵U^ƒ№	0.7–14.1 Ga	... nor beyond 15.7 Ma^[6]
₡, has thermal fissile №, primarily a naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) þ, neutron poison (thermal neutron capture cross section greater than 3k barns)

References

^ "Table de Radionucleides Pu-241, Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2017-08-08.
^ Plus radium (element 88). While actually a sub-actinide, it immediately precedes actinium (89) and follows a three-element gap of instability after polonium (84) where no nuclides have half-lives of at least four years (the longest-lived nuclide in the gap is radon-222 with a half life of less than four days). Radium's longest lived isotope, at 1,600 years, thus merits the element's inclusion here.
thermal neutron fission of uranium-235, e.g. in a typical nuclear reactor
.

doi:10.1016/0029-5582(65)90719-4
.
"The isotopic analyses disclosed a species of mass 248 in constant abundance in three samples analysed over a period of about 10 months. This was ascribed to an isomer of Bk²⁴⁸ with a half-life greater than 9 [years]. No growth of Cf²⁴⁸ was detected, and a lower limit for the β⁻ half-life can be set at about 10⁴ [years]. No alpha activity attributable to the new isomer has been detected; the alpha half-life is probably greater than 300 [years]."

sea of instability
".
^ Excluding those "classically stable" nuclides with half-lives significantly in excess of ²³²Th; e.g., while ^113mCd has a half-life of only fourteen years, that of ¹¹³Cd is eight quadrillion years.

v
t
e
Main isotopes of plutonium

²³⁸Pu

²³⁹Pu

²⁴⁰Pu

²⁴¹Pu

²⁴²Pu

²⁴⁴Pu

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plutonium-241&oldid=1220615201"

[1] "Table de Radionucleides Pu-241, Laboratoire National Henri Becquerel" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-17. Retrieved 2017-08-08.

[2] Plus radium (element 88). While actually a sub-actinide, it immediately precedes actinium (89) and follows a three-element gap of instability after polonium (84) where no nuclides have half-lives of at least four years (the longest-lived nuclide in the gap is radon-222 with a half life of less than four days). Radium's longest lived isotope, at 1,600 years, thus merits the element's inclusion here.

[3] thermal neutron fission of uranium-235, e.g. in a typical nuclear reactor
.

[4] :10.1016/0029-5582(65)90719-4
.
"The isotopic analyses disclosed a species of mass 248 in constant abundance in three samples analysed over a period of about 10 months. This was ascribed to an isomer of Bk²⁴⁸ with a half-life greater than 9 [years]. No growth of Cf²⁴⁸ was detected, and a lower limit for the β⁻ half-life can be set at about 10⁴ [years]. No alpha activity attributable to the new isomer has been detected; the alpha half-life is probably greater than 300 [years]."

[5] sea of instability
".

[6] Excluding those "classically stable" nuclides with half-lives significantly in excess of ²³²Th; e.g., while ^113mCd has a half-life of only fourteen years, that of ¹¹³Cd is eight quadrillion years.

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