Plutonium: Power, Peril, and the Path to the Stars

In this episode of The Deep Dive, we trace plutonium from its 1940 discovery by Glenn Seaborg and Edwin McMillan to the wartime race to produce it, and explore its dual role as a powerful energy source and a dangerous substance. We unpack how fission powers reactors and RTGs that fuel space missions, the MOX fuel option, and the safety and environmental challenges of handling this long‑lived element. Along the way we explore its six ambient‑pressure allotropes, its legacy from the Manhattan Project to modern science, and how it threads from the lab to the cosmos.

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