Hawkinium

Element 126 (unbihexium) on the periodic table was originally labelled Hawkingium, but frequent use has caused the nasal to be dropped, and is now referred to as Hawkinium. It was discovered during the middle of the 21st century, though its only truly stable isotope, Hawkinium 310, was not refined until the end of the century. This potentially stable isotope was predicted long beforehand, and Stephen Hawking's name was reserved for its discovery in order to honor his achievements. It is one of three truly synthetic elements to be both relatively stable and have unique chemical properties, the other two being Planckium (element 122) and Slotinium (element 124).

A 'victim' of superactinide contraction, Hawkinium is by far the densest, stable, non-exotic element known, with a density nearly four times that of lead. It is chemically surprisingly stable, though it does slowly oxidize in air. It is thought to be mildly toxic in large quantities, but no human has yet had significant exposure to the substance, and this is unlikely for the forseeable future.

Hawkinium does not have a well-defined solid or liquid state. In its pure form, it can be molded as if it were stiff clay at room temperature, and increasing temperatures make it more and more malleable until it is clearly a liquid. Its boiling/sublimation point is nearly six thousand Kelvin, higher than tungsten but lower than seaborgium.

The nucleus of hawkinium 310 resists attempts to change, and will automatically reflect low-energy bombardment.

Uses

Hawkinium has three primary uses.

Hawkinium alloys well with steel, and in some specially crafted alloys represents 50% of its weight. Until it outweighs the rest of its alloy, it tends to increase all meaningful properties of the steel - strength, melting point, and other factors. While it would make an amazing tamper and neutron reflector for use in nuclear weapons, it is far too valuable to be used as such. Regardless, it is no magic solution to the materials problems, simply a help.

Both fission and fusion reactors frequently make use of hawkinium alloys as a neutron reflector, drastically reducing neutron embrittlement and allowing for higher temperatures inside the reactor. Most such uses involve the carbide alloy.

The most unique property of hawkinium is its unusual response to the weak nuclear force. A strange property shared by the superactinides, they reflect and absorb neutrinos at a meaningful rate - a centimeter of hawkinium is the rough equivelant of ten kilometers of lead. Before the advent of exotics, it was the only method of 'easily' detecting neutrinos.

Production

Production is a set of extremely long, complex, energy intensive processes. There are several elemental chains through which hawkinium 310 is created, and its production consumes over 99.5% of all synthesized elements heavier than californium. Currently, several dozen tonnes are produced each year, with a total stockpile of nearly a hundred thousand tonnes.