4 ms·
Sure it's not in critical mass or particularly radioactive, but Plutonium is toxic...
by mathw 9y ago
Sure it's not in critical mass or particularly radioactive, but Plutonium is toxic...
- wbl 9y agoSo is hydrazine and dinitrogen tetroxide is also all kinds of fun. Heavy metal toxicity is manageable.
- DennisP 9y agoNASA's Kilopower design uses enriched uranium fuel, and with such a small reactor it won't be much uranium.
- Symmetry 9y agoI'd expect that part of the reason they use uranium instead of plutonium is exactly to make sure the reactor is safe in the event of a rocket failure.
- mrep 9y agoI expect it to be because there isn't much plutonium left [1]. [1]: http://www.popsci.com/plutonium-238-is-produced-in-america-for-first-time-in-30-years http://www.popsci.com/plutonium-238-is-produced-in-america-f...