A radioactive transuranium element, plutonium is important as an ingredient in nuclear weapons and as fuel for nuclear reactors. It is produced by deuteron bombardment of uranium-238 in a cyclotron, and also exists in trace quantities in naturally occurring uranium ores. There are 16 known isotopes (plutonium-238 was discovered in 1992) of the element. Plutonium was first detected in 1941 by Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, and Arthur C. Wahl.