4 ms·

Plutonium pits can be stored and reused, but not forever. Eventually enough decay products build up to make them unreliable. It's a big problem for long-term ma

Plutonium pits can be stored and reused, but not forever. Eventually enough decay products build up to make them unreliable. It's a big problem for long-term maintenance.

rootusrootus 4y ago
Relative to human timespans, the half life of plutonium is still pretty long. How long would it take to build up enough decay products to matter?
- Finnucane 4y ago
  A few decades. Those pits are supposed to be pretty pure plutonium. Though it is something like the 'sell by' date on your milk. You open it up and think, is it really gone bad?
  - Xymist 4y ago
    And if you die three weeks later, it was still OK!