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The delta‐to‐alpha transformation in Ga‐stabilized plutonium alloys has many unusual features. It is a thermally activated martensitic transformation with double‐c transformation kinetics. The alpha product has an approximately 20% smaller volume than delta, but its volume can change an additional 2% depending on the transformation path. The thermally induced transformation also rarely proceeds to more than 40% completion. We use ab‐initio techniques to look at local ordering of gallium in the alpha phase and use continuum elastoplastic energy calculations to understand the possible effects of plastic deformations during the transformations. We discuss how local ordering and plastic deformation may explain some of the unusual features of the transformation.