Plutonium Leaks in Japan What are the real dangers? Because of the Japan nuclear accidents, many people are reading about and becoming concerned about plutonium. The information below should serve to put your mind at ease about any risk we in the U.S. might have due to plutonium exposure. Plutonium is a man made element created from uranium and used as a fuel in nuclear power plants. External exposure to plutonium presents very little risk because it throws off weak...