From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishplutoniumplu‧to‧ni‧um /pluːˈtəʊniəm $ -ˈtoʊ-/ noun [uncountable] HCEa radioactive metal that is used in the production of nuclear power, and in nuclear weapons. It is a chemical element: symbol Pu
Examples from the Corpus
plutonium• But stocks of civil plutonium are flowing forth from reprocessing plants ordered during the 1970s.• There is the question: why was civil plutonium exported, in the first place, under a defence agreement?• Given the possession of plutonium, nuclear weapons are easy to make.• As little as 55 pounds of highly enriched uranium or 18 pounds of plutonium could be used to build a nuclear device.• We have large quantities of plutonium already separated and in forms ideally suited for nuclear weapons.• But the world has a surplus of plutonium, even without extra supplies coming from disarmament.• It also has become clear that the two sides differ profoundly on what to do with separated plutonium.• We can understand plutonium and work out how to treat people who have it in them.Origin plutonium (1900-2000) Modern Latin Pluto 