Talk:Plutonium-238

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There is an error in this article

To highlight this, I put the following note in this article:

There is an error in the paragraph above. Heat, not neutrons, is used in radioisotope thermoelectric generators. Whether Pu-238 is used in neutron sources, I don't know. Someone please tidy this up.

This was immediately reverted by Kilo-Lima who was also very rude about it:

Please do not add nonsense to Wikipedia. It is considered vandalism. If you would like to experiment, use the sandbox. Thank you. Kilo-Lima|(talk) 16:35, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Now let us get our facts straight:

Thermoelectric generators use heat, hence the prefix thermo as in thermometer. The use of Pu-238 comes from its decay heat of over 500W/kg. Alpha emitters can be used in neutron sources if coupled with something that gives off neutrons when struck by alpha particles, such as beryllium, but this is not what happens in thermoelectic generators. Pu-238 will also give off a small quantity of neutrons due to spontaneous fission, but the number cannot be great because I happen to know it is used with very little shielding.

It is not vandalism to point out an error in an article and ask for a tidy up. Kilo-Lima has reverted the article to a state where it gives incorrect information without warning. So just who is posting nonsense? 81.154.181.130 17:17, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

Well it was put into the article informally and I think it would have been far more easier to correct this information, rather than add in out-of-content text to the article. That's the greatness of Wikipedia! If it's wrong, change it! Kilo-Lima|(talk) 17:53, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
The snag is that I don't know enough to correct the article usefully, only enough to be certain that there is an error and I think that the warning I put in was better than no warning at all. By the way, how does one put up a formal warning tag for inaccuracy? 81.154.181.130 18:13, 18 April 2006 (UTC)


There is at least one other error in the first paragraph:

Np-239 decays to form Pu-239 not Pu-238

I think it is unlikely that Pu-238 was the first Pu isotope to be made; it was more likely Pu-239. 86.129.163.163 09:31, 19 April 2006 (UTC)...Cancel that, it looks like it was!--81.154.180.66 12:35, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

To put up a warning tag, add {{disputed}} at the top of the page or {{dubious}} at the end of the sentence. Polonium 20:35, 29 May 2006 (UTC)


Soviet space craft ?


Typing error in the headline of the box at the bottom: It is Pu-238 and not Pu-237 Fmwagner (talk) 13:59, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Those boxes are meant to be used as they were before your edit - the top row is separate from the bottom row, and the reactions in the bottom row involve Pu-238, not the neighboring plutonium isotopes. It's a really bad, confusing design, but that's how it was intended. Its talk page Template_talk:Isotope has more detailed criticism. --JWB (talk) 17:49, 26 May 2008 (UTC)