NASA Restarts Plutonium Production

It's the wrong isotope - bombs use Pu-239, while RTGs use Pu-238.

There, fixed that for you. Reactors will readily burn Pu-239. They will also burn Pu-240, and Pul-238 and whatever other isotope. To fetch "usable" Pu from a reactor requires lots of effort, but to use it, not so much. You can just mix it with initial fuel and be done with it.

Only bombs use Pu-239 only. And it takes nasty, expensive processing (and lots of it) to fetch Pu-239 and avoiding Pu-240. It is one of the reasons for those leaks at Hanford. Pu-240 contamination makes Pu nukes go "fuzz fuzz", like No

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/7VlGFWoRxS8/story01.htm

exit polls Presidential Polls California Propositions Electoral College chuck pagano A Gay Lesbian daylight savings time 2012