Difference between uranium and plutonium

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Regardless of whether it is about nuclear weapons or nuclear power, the terms uranium and plutonium keep coming up. Most people know that both substances are radioactive. But is there any difference between the two? There actually is, and it is considerable.

Radioactive elements are the basis of nuclear power.

What are uranium and plutonium?

The biggest difference between uranium and plutonium is that they are basically two different elements. Elements are characterized by the fact that they consist exclusively of atoms of one kind. Uranium is the 92nd element in the Periodic table - the number of protons in the atomic nucleus is 92 - it has the element symbol "U". Plutonium has two more protons, so it has the atomic number 94. Its element symbol is "P".
Both elements are radioactive and belong to the group of actinides. Both metals are visually similar; they do not glow a poisonous green, but have a silvery sheen and could be mistaken for tin by laypeople. As far as the physical properties are concerned, plutonium is the heavier element, with a significantly lower melting point of just 912.5 K.
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A big difference between the two elements is their occurrence. While uranium makes up about 0.0003% of the earth's envelope in terms of mass, the proportion that plutonium has in this is negligibly small. It is therefore mainly produced artificially.

There is little difference in the use of the elements

Uranium and plutonium are used both to generate energy in the civil sector (nuclear power plants) and as part of military weapon technology. There are always only individual isotopes of the elements that are suitable for a specific purpose. (Explanation: With isotopes, the number of neutrons in the atomic nucleus deviates from the normal case for a certain element.) Although there are differences in the details When it comes to use, if only uranium is used in armor-piercing projectiles, the areas of application for both elements are very similar strong.
Uranium is often used as the basis from which to produce plutonium. This makes sense above all because the uranium isotope is the primary source of energy ²³⁵U is used, but this is comparatively rare. The much more common ²³⁸U is then still put to a useful purpose through the production of plutonium, especially since the element produced is more useful during its nuclear fission energy releases than the original uranium.