Plutonium

Plutonium (Pu) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years

Plutonium’s research intensity has settled at about 24% of its own all-time peak, a level that has steadily declined over the last decade since the element’s historic high in 1965.

Research intensity ran from about 30% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 24% in 2026 — a steady decline, and the all-time peak (1965) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements held steady. Among the 118 elements, plutonium has a mid-sized research literature.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 1,879 in 2016 to about 2,434 in 2025 (1.3x). That is slower than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element lost ground in the wider body of research even as its own count rose.

The core of plutonium research in this period is defined by three distinct communities, all of which have maintained a steady share of the element's literature. The largest is Plutonium in Mixed-Oxide and Nitride Nuclear Fuels, which accounts for about 34.5% of the element's recent research. This community focuses on the composition and properties of mixed uranium-plutonium oxide and nitride fuels, with distinctive work on mox fuel and plutonium dioxide. While plutonium is a minor presence in the broader actinide chemistry community—appearing in about 10% of those papers—it is central to this specific subfield. A key paper here is "Beyond U/Pu separation: Separation of americium from the highly active PUREX raffinate" (2023), cited about 71 times, which addresses the separation of americium from plutonium-rich waste.

The second major community, Plutonium Separation and Forensics in Nuclear Fuel Cycles, holds about 29.2% of the research. These papers focus on actinide separation, spent fuel reprocessing, and forensic analysis of plutonium isotopes. Plutonium is one strand of a broader community involving uranium extraction, appearing in about 10% of those papers. Notable work includes "Plutonium reactive transport in fractured granite: Multi-species experiments and simulations" (2022), cited about 67 times, which examines the environmental fate of plutonium in geological settings.

The third community, Plutonium in Light Water Reactor Fuel and Neutronics, comprises about 22.2% of the research. Here, plutonium appears in MOX fuel assemblies and spent fuel, where its neutron multiplicity and minor actinide content drive reactor physics benchmarks. It is a minor presence in the broader advanced nuclear reactor materials community, involved in about 7% of those papers. A significant recent contribution is "Optimal Neutron Spectrum Database for In‐reactor 238 Pu Production" (2025), cited about 28 times, which provides critical data for reactor physics.

The remaining 14.1% of research is distributed among other smaller communities. Overall, the composition of plutonium research has remained stable, with no single community gaining or losing significant share relative to the others over the last two five-year periods.

For a deeper look at the current state of plutonium research, including the most recent monthly developments and executive summaries, see the element's current-standing reports.