Plutonium-244

Plutonium-244, 244Pu
A concentrated solution of plutonium-244
General
Symbol244Pu
Namesplutonium-244, 244Pu, Pu-244
Protons (Z)94
Neutrons (N)150
Nuclide data
Natural abundanceTrace
Half-life (t1/2)8.13×107 years[1]
Isotope mass244.0642044[2] Da
Spin0+
Parent isotopes248Cm (α)
244Np (β)
Decay products240U
Decay modes
Decay modeDecay energy (MeV)
α (99.879%) 
SF (0.121%) 
Isotopes of plutonium
Complete table of nuclides

Plutonium-244 (244Pu) is an isotope of plutonium that has a half-life of 81.3 million years. This is longer than any other isotope of plutonium and longer than any other known isotope of an element beyond bismuth, except for the three naturally abundant ones: uranium-235 (704 million years), uranium-238 (4.468 billion years), and thorium-232 (14.05 billion years). Given the half-life of 244Pu, an exceedingly small amount should still be present on Earth, making plutonium a likely but unproven candidate as the shortest-lived primordial element.

  1. ^ Kondev, F. G.; Wang, M.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Audi, G. (2021). "The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear properties" (PDF). Chinese Physics C. 45 (3): 030001. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddae.
  2. ^ Wang, M.; Audi, G.; Kondev, F. G.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Xu, X. (2017). "The AME2016 atomic mass evaluation (II). Tables, graphs, and references" (PDF). Chinese Physics C. 41 (3): 030003-1 – 030003-442. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/41/3/030003.

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