How is uranium enriched?
359891
Enriched uranium is uranium whose uranium-235 content has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium consists mostly of the 238U isotope, with about 0.72 % by weight as 235U, the only isotope existing in nature in any appreciable amount that is fissionable by thermal neutrons.
913117
Radiation poisoning is a real problem that goes right along with depleted uranium. The two Countries we are at war with are both glowing with our soldiers in them. Cancer is inevitable with our troops and the people that are exposed to the uranium. Our military personnel will have problems in the future.
1170603
okay. well, in a nuclear reactor, uranium or plutonium is bombarded with neutrons in order to force it to split and release huge amounts of energy. elements with 92 protons and up will nearly always absorb a neutron and split without hesitating.\n\nin a nuclear reactor, the uranium is highly enriched, which means it contains certain uranium isotopes that are less stable than others, therefore making it easier to split (and it IS weapon grade). it is kept at what's called the critical mass level. subcritcal mass wont sustain a chain reaction, and supercritical mass will cause a runaway chain reaction, like in an atomic bomb. the control rods in the reactor can be pushed in and out of the core, which contains the uranium (U) or plutonium (Pu). when the rods are all the way in, the reaction comes to a halt, when they are all the way out (they never are) the reaction reaches supercritical levels and escapes control. (this happened at chernobyl). there are other ways for a reactor to reach the supercritical level, the control rod material plays a part, the coolant, and of course those controlling the reaction. control rod material is very important, because if the material the rods are made of do not absorb enough neutrons, they will allow the reaction to continue (this happened at chernobyl, the material actually caused an increase in reaction speed and power). the coolant must have a very low void coefficient, (the void coefficient tells how much of the liquid is gas pockets at any given time. water has a high void coefficient) or else the gas pockets will allow extra heat to build up, therefore allowing the reaction to escape control, and possibly melt the core, as what happened at Three Mile Island. \n\nin short, a nuclear reactor cannot cause a thermonuclear explosion, because all current nuclear reactors are fission reactors, and thermonukes are fusion. however, the fission reactors in operation CAN cause an explosion (and it IS a nuclear explosion. nuclear particles and waste material are ejected from the reactor when it explodes. this can cause acute radiation poisoning in surrounding area), if they are not very carefully, precisely, and intelligently monitored.
300559
One does not mine for depleted uranium. That is man made and is disposed of in guarded facilities. However, if you insist, you had best know it's qualities and make sure you are well protected with radiation gear.\n\n"Depleted uranium results from the enriching of natural uranium for use in nuclear reactors. Natural uranium is a slightly radioactive metal that is present in most rocks and soils as well as in many rivers and sea water. Natural uranium consists primarily of a mixture of two isotopes (forms) of uranium, Uranium-235 (U235) and Uranium-238 (U238), in the proportion of about 0.7 and 99.3 percent, respectively. Nuclear reactors require U235 to produce energy, therefore, the natural uranium has to be enriched to obtain the isotope U235 by removing a large part of the U238. Uranium-238 becomes DU, which is 0.7 times as radioactive as natural uranium. Since DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, there is very little decay of those DU materials."
670330
These are sensors that can detect radioactivity and have uses in security devices and other security devices.\nAll elements are stable under normal conditions , but some elements like uranium and plutonium are less stable than the others . When the atoms of these substances are disturbed (its called excited state) they emit energy in the form of radioactivity . This radio activuty can be detected by these sensors .
905264
plutonium. neptunium, mercury ,uranium
403672
Maybe you are referring to uranium enrichment?\n\nUranium found in nature consists largely of two isotopes, U-235 and U-238. The production of energy in nuclear reactors is from the `fission' or splitting of the U-235 atoms, a process which releases energy in the form of heat. U-235 is the main fissile isotope of uranium.\n\nNatural uranium contains 0.7% of the U-235 isotope. The remaining 99.3% is mostly the U-238 isotope which does not contribute directly to the fission process (though it does so indirectly by the formation of fissile isotopes of plutonium).\n\nUranium-235 and U-238 are chemically identical, but differ in their physical properties, particularly their mass. The nucleus of the U-235 atom contains 92 protons and 143 neutrons, giving an atomic mass of 235 units. The U-238 nucleus also has 92 protons but has 146 neutrons - three more than U-235, and therefore has a mass of 238 units.\n\nThe difference in mass between U-235 and U-238 allows the isotopes to be separated and makes it possible to increase or "enrich" the percentage of U-235. All present enrichment processes, directly or indirectly, make use of this small mass difference. \n\nA number of enrichment processes have been demonstrated in the laboratory but only two, the gaseous diffusion process and the centrifuge process, are operating on a commercial scale. In both of these, UF6 gas is used as the feed material. Molecules of UF6 with U-235 atoms are about one percent lighter than the rest, and this difference in mass is the basis of both processes.\n\nLarge commercial enrichment plants are in operation in France, Germany, Netherlands, UK, USA, and Russia, with smaller plants elsewhere.
432163
those are uranium ores. tjey are mined and then put on a centrifuge to make uranium. uranium is the material used as fue in nuclear reactors/bombs.
630222
They haven't yet.  They've only produced low grade enriched uranium which, right now, could only be used to generate electricity.\n\nBut they are real close....
288114
The atomic number tells you how many protons there are in the nucleus, and that's what identifies the element.  Subtract that number from the atomic weight and you get the number of neutrons.  Uranium has 92 protons and 143 neutrons (U235) or 146 neutrons (U238).  The different weights are called isotopes.  In an electrically neutral atom the number of electrons is the same as the number of protons.  Strip a few electrons away you get an ion (an ionized atom).  It's the structure of the electrons that strongly influences the chemical properties of the element.
216157
The highly radioactive form of uranium is a very very slightly more dense isotope than the primary isotope, thus you can purify it by any means which separates atoms based on mass.  This can be done by injecting a gaseous form of uranium into a machine which collects different fractions based on mass/charge, or crudely using an ultra-high speed centrifuge.  This info is available in a million places on the internet and taught in college physics.  The machines required to do this are extremely expensive and difficult to design, and a great deal of uranium is required-those are the limiting steps.
179523
Uranium enrichment is the process of making those little things called electrons that are in atoms to become more and more unstable thus creating a highly unstable substance that is used for the core of.. you guessed it! The A bomb! There are different isotopes of atoms, usually uranium, and the more electrons you make it lose the more unstable it gets, Plutonium is used in bombs, plutonium is made from uranium for example. Have a nice day.
440969
It’s actually not that easy and I disagree that a student can make a nuclear bomb, dirty bomb, maybe, nuclear bomb, no. There is an isotope of uranium that is required. An isotope is an element with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. Common uranium is known as U238. Uranium used for making bombs is the rare U235. Once enough U235 is gathered, it must go through an enrichment process. Various equipment and technology is needed. Yes, the United States has been able to this for more than 60 years, but the technology is heavily guarded by the civilized world. Iran has had to start from the beginning to develop the technology which is not trivial.
946517
It was low-enriched uranium, not weapons grade. So the answer is NONE. No nukes with THAT uranium. It would have to be enriched , and would amount to a miniscule amount after that.\n\n"could potentially be used in a radiological dispersal device," or dirty bomb.
13866
James's answer about the amounts you would need to inhale/absorb are correct, but I would disagree with his "rare" statement.  A lot of depleted Uranium is used by the military in armour piercing rounds as it is about 10 to 100 times denser than lead.\n\nUnfortunately its use is hazardous and exposes the operators and the target to highly absorbable vapourised and finely powdered depleted Uranium.  This has been linked with Gulf war syndrome in our troops from both Gulf wars where a lot of armour piercing  ammuntion was fired.  The effects on the target are unknown, and we should be watching for signs of radiation sickness in the Iraqi population and rise in birth defects etc as this toxic material builds up in the population.
973601
well since uranium is dense if it were no longer on the earth, the earth would be less dense. therefore it would have less mass. thus the gravitational pull would be less powerful thus there would be many changes to our lifestyle.\n\nwow i would of never thought of that myself.
663033
u.to\nuranium participation corp. (U;TSX)\n\nUranium (yellowcake) production cannot meet current demand, and demand will increase significantly because of the planned building of Nuclear Power Plants in all of the rapidly developing countries of the World, China, India, etc. CCJ is also another great Uranium Mining company, but it is not currently a cheap stock.