What's reactor-grade plutonium?

Reactor-Grade and. Weapons-Grade Plutonium in Nuclear Explosives. ~ excerpted from the US Department of Energy Publication ~. Nonproliferation and Arms Control Assessment of Weapons-Usable Fissile Material Storage and Excess Plutonium Disposition Alternatives. (pages 37-39). January 1997. read more

Reactor-grade plutonium/RGPu is the isotopic grade of plutonium that is found in spent nuclear fuel after the primary fuel, that of Uranium-235 that a nuclear power reactor uses, has (burnt up/burnup). read more

Reactor grade Plutonium is a poorly defined term. Weapon Grade Plutonium is generally separated from fuel elements that have been exposed in a reactor for 30 to 90 days. The shorter the exposure the less Plutonium 240 formed in the fuel element. read more

In the United States, plutonium containing between 80 and 93 percent plutonium-239 is referred to as "fuel-grade" plutonium, while plutonium with less than 80 percent plutonium-239-- typical of plutonium in the spent fuel of light-water and CANDU reactors at normal irradiation -- is referred to as "reactor-grade" plutonium. read more