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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Speciation and Bioavailability Measurements of Environmental Plutonium Using Diffusion in Thin Films

Speciation and Bioavailability Measurements of Environmental Plutonium Using Diffusion in Thin Films

Published on: November 9, 2015

Plutonium-244: confirmation as an extinct radioactivity.

E C Alexander, R S Lewis, J H Reynolds

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|May 21, 1971

Summary

Researchers confirmed plutonium-244

Area of Science:

Cosmochemistry
Nuclear Astrophysics
Geochemistry

Background:

Meteoritic xenon anomalies suggest extinct radioactivities from galactic nucleosynthesis.
Plutonium-244 (²⁴⁴Pu) was hypothesized as a source, but direct evidence was lacking.
Understanding early solar system composition requires identifying extinct radionuclides.

Purpose of the Study:

To provide definitive evidence for plutonium-244 as an extinct radionuclide of galactic origin.
To confirm the predicted mass spectrum of xenon from ²⁴⁴Pu spontaneous fission.
To validate the use of ²⁴⁴Pu abundances in galactic nucleosynthesis chronology.

Main Methods:

Laboratory analysis of xenon mass spectra from a plutonium-244 sample.
Comparison of measured xenon mass spectrum with predictions for ²⁴⁴Pu fission.

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Last Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Speciation and Bioavailability Measurements of Environmental Plutonium Using Diffusion in Thin Films

Speciation and Bioavailability Measurements of Environmental Plutonium Using Diffusion in Thin Films

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Correlation of findings with existing meteoritic data.

Main Results:

The measured xenon mass spectrum precisely matched predictions for spontaneous fission of plutonium-244.
This confirms ²⁴⁴Pu as a bona fide extinct radioactivity of galactic origin.
Meteoritic abundances of ²⁴⁴Pu can now be reliably used for galactic chronology.

Conclusions:

The discovery solidifies the role of ²⁴⁴Pu in early solar system nucleosynthesis.
It confirms r-process nucleosynthesis occurred during the sun's birth.
The search for anomalous xenon in meteorites can now be focused on other sources.