40和鈾-238一樣是一種可增殖材料。鈈-240俘獲一個中子後變成鈈-241。但是鈈-242的中子俘獲截面低,還必須俘獲三個中子才能成爲可裂變核素。這些特質無疑都影響了鈈的廣範應用。 Reactor-Grade Plutonium Can be Used to Make Powerful and Reliable
S. Reprocessing Worth The Risk?. [2011-03-19]. (原始内容存档于2011-04-01). Plutonium proliferation and MOX fuel. [2011-03-19]. (原始内容存档于2011-03-20). Information
已隱藏部分未翻譯内容,歡迎參與翻譯。 The "胖子原子彈"-type plutonium bombs produced during the 曼哈頓計劃 used explosive compression of plutonium to obtain significantly higher densities