Element 84 · Metalloid
Polonium
Polonium is intensely radioactive — used as a heat source in some satellites and as a polymer manufacturing static eliminator.
Element Facts
SYMBOL
Po
ATOMIC NO.
84
ATOMIC WEIGHT
209
CATEGORY
Post-Transition Metal
PERIOD
Period 6
GROUP
Group 16
Origins
Polonium was discovered in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie while investigating the radioactivity of uranium ore (pitchblende). Marie Curie named it after Poland — her homeland, then under foreign partition — making it the first element named for a political cause. She and Pierre processed tonnes of pitchblende to isolate it. Polonium was the first element discovered by Marie Curie, just a few weeks before she discovered radium.
Modern Applications
Polonium-210 has been used in anti-static devices in printing and photographic film processing, where it ionises nearby air to neutralise static charge. It has also been used in specialist nuclear research. Polonium came to global attention in November 2006 when it was used to poison former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko in London — a stark demonstration of its extreme toxicity.
At the Yard
Why QuickStop Metals doesn’t buy Polonium:
Polonium is one of the most radioactive naturally occurring substances. It is classified as a controlled nuclear material under the UK’s Nuclear Industries Security Regulations 2003. Polonium found outside a licensed nuclear facility would represent an immediate public health emergency. It can never be processed at a scrap yard.
Market Value
No commercial scrap market. The production cost of polonium-210 is estimated at approximately £800,000 per gram. It is handled exclusively by licensed nuclear facilities.