noun

• The chemical element of atomic number 96, a radioactive metal of the actinide series. Curium does not occur naturally and was first made by bombarding plutonium with helium ions.

  ‘The lifetimes of the first ‘transuranium’ elements - such as plutonium, curium and californium - were very close to the values predicted by the liquid-drop model.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Release of plutonium, americium and curium could occur from laboratory or industrial accidents.’
  • ‘It is prepared artificially by bombarding curium with alpha particles in a particle accelerator.’
  • ‘All isotopes of curium are radioactive with curium - 247 having the longest half life, about 16 million years.’
  • ‘Kept secret until after the war, they were respectively called americium and curium.’