Plutonium Alert

"Listen", said the Porcupine. "I am totally serious." "You try to scare me again", said the Octopus. "No", said the Porcupine, "I am very scared myself, too. The transuranic chemical element plutonium exhibits a set of awkward and perilous qualities." "So what? " asked the Octopus. "Just wait", said the Porcupine. "A radioactive silvery metal with the atomic number 94, plutonium occurs in nature only in trace quantities. It is produced synthetically in nuclear reactors from uranium 239." "I am not scared yet", said the Octopus. "Be more patient", said the Porcupine. "Plutonium was actually used in the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. It also serves to power spacecrafts and to heat thermoelectric generators. This chemical element is extremely toxic. Inhaling even a minuscule portion of it may cause lung cancer and its harmful effects include heavy metal poisoning." "Really? " asked the Octopus. "Yes", replied the Porcupine. "Moreover, a weird and hazardous property of plutonium involves its disposition to catch fire spontaneously. And although in the explosive cores of nuclear weapons plutonium Is alloyed with the metallic element gallium, as a matter of fact nobody knows whether this combination is reliable, risk-free and safe." "So what can be done? " said the Octopus. "You tell me", said the Porcupine. "And bear in mind as well that no expert in the world can guarantee that plutonium in nuclear reactors and warheads are securely stored into the indeterminate future. Thus, even if we ignore the Sword of Democles, the looming possibility of a nuclear war, nobody can give us assurance that the arsenal of weapons of mass destruction pose no danger at all and for all. Thousands of plutonium warheads are stockpiled by nuclearly armed nations, scattered across the world, on land or hidden in the deep waters of the oceans in submarines."