Oxidation of plutonium metal

The processes leading to the production of plutonium oxide powders as a res ult of the interaction of plutonium metal with moist (5% H2O) air and moist (5% H2O) argon are investigated. The kinetic curves in the range 250-400 d egreesC are obtained. The oxidation is shown to occur in stages; rite activ ation energy of each stage is calculated. A mechanism of the oxidation of p lutonium is proposed. it is shown that the plutonium oxides obtained in moi st air and moist argon at 300-400 degreesC possess a high reactivity and/or are suitable for further chemical processing - dissolution in nitric acid, fluoridation, and chlorination.