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Facts About Uranium

Uranium
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Atomic Number: 92
Atomic Symbol: U
Atomic Weight: 238.02891
Melting Point: 2,075 F (1,135 C)
Boiling Point: 7,468 F (4,131 C)
Word Origin: Uranium is named after the planet Uranus, which was newly discovered when the
element was identified in 1789. The planet is named after the Greek god of the sky or heaven.
Discovery: Marin H. Klaproth is generally credited with identifying uranium as an element
while experimenting with pitchblende in 1789. Humans had, however, been aware of uranium
for millennia, using its natural oxide as a yellow coloring agent for ceramic glazes as early as
A.D. 79. Klaproth did not identify the pure element, but uranium oxide. The element was first
isolated by Eugne-Melchior Pligot in 1841.
Properties of uranium
Pure uranium is a silvery white metal. It is weakly radioactive. Pure uranium metal is malleable,
ductile, slightly paramagnetic, and strongly electropositive. It is a poor electrical conductor. It is
harder than most other elements, though a little softer than steel, and has a very high density
about 70 percent denser than lead and slightly less dense than gold. Uranium is the heaviest
naturally occurring element available in large quantities. Uranium metal has three
crystallographic modifications: alpha, beta and gamma. [See Periodic Table of the Elements]
Hydrochloric and nitric acids dissolve uranium metal, and non-oxidizing acids attack it slowly. It
is unaffected by alkalis. Uranium reacts with almost all nonmetallic elements in their
compounds, and reactivity increases with temperature. When finely divided, uranium is
pyrophoric and can react with cold water.
Uranium metal oxidizes in air. It becomes coated with a dark layer of uranium oxide. Its
oxidation states form a variety of alloys and compounds, the most important being uranium (IV)
and uranium (VI), with their corresponding oxides of uranium dioxide and uranium trioxide. In

addition to their oxides, other significant uranium compounds include fluorides, chlorides,
bromides, iodides, hydrides, carbonates, barbides, nitrides and phosphates.
Uranium exists in aqueous solutions at 3, +4, +5, and +6 oxidation states. Oxidation state +6 as
the UO22+ ion (which is yellow in color) is the most stable state in solution.
Uranium and its compounds are highly toxic, both from a chemical and radiological standpoint.
Finely divided uranium metal, being pyrophoric, presents a fire hazard.
Sources of uranium
Though naturally occurring uranium exists in low concentrations (a few parts per million) in soil,
rocks, and water, it is not as rare as once thought. It is now considered to be about as abundant as
molybdenum and arsenic, and more plentiful than mercury, silver, cadmium, and antimony.
Uranium occurs naturally in numerous minerals including pitchblende, carnotite, uranophane,
autunite and tobernite. It is also found in phosphate rocks, monazite sands, and lignite. It is
commercially recovered from all of these sources. The United States Department of Energy
purchases uranium in the form of acceptable U3O8 concentrates. This purchasing has proved to
be a great incentive for uranium recovery and has led to more known uranium reserves.
In nature, U(VI) forms highly soluble carbonate complexes at alkaline pH. It often forms at
nuclear waste repositories, and the solubility of the carbonate complexes means that uranium is
more mobile. This increases the presence of uranium in groundwater and soil around nuclear
waste repositories, which can cause health hazards.
Uranium metal can be prepared by reducing uranium halides with alkali or alkaline earth metals
or by reducing uranium oxides by calcium, aluminum, or carbon at high temperatures. The metal
can also be produced by electrolysis of KUF5 or UF4, dissolved in a molten salt mixture of CaCl2
and NaCl. High-purity uranium can be prepared by the thermal decomposition of uranium
halides on a hot filament.
Uses of uranium
People have been using uranium for millennia. In ancient Rome and during the Middle Ages, it
was used as a coloring agent in ceramic glazes and glass. It produced hues from orange-red to
lemon-yellow. In modern times, it was used as an orange glaze in the Fiestaware brand of
dishware but was later discontinued for health reasons.
Today, uranium is mostly used for its unique nuclear properties. When in sufficient
concentration, uraniums many fissile isotopes can cause a nuclear chain reaction that generates
heat in nuclear power reactors and produces the fissile material for nuclear weapons. One pound
of completely fissioned uranium has the fuel value of over 1,500 tons of coal. The nuclear
conversion for the fissile materials can also be made in breeder reactors, which can make more
fissile material than the chain reaction. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945
had a uranium core.

U-235 is hugely important. It is considered the key to maximizing uranium. Though it occurs in
natural uranium in small amounts, 235U is so fissionable with slow neutrons that a self-sustaining
fission chain reaction can be made in a reactor constructed from natural uranium and a suitable
moderator, such as heavy water or graphite, alone. Concentrated 235U and natural uranium
infused slightly with 235U can also be used directly as nuclear fuel to generate electricity.
Additionally, 235U can be used as an explosive.
Uranium has other uses besides nuclear power and weapons. Uranium is used in inertial
guidance devices, in gyro compasses, as counterweights for aircraft control surfaces, as ballast
for missile reentry vehicles, and as a shielding material. Uranium salts have also been used for
producing yellow "Vaseline" glass and glazes.238U that has been depleted of 235U is used in
ballistic armor penetration and as armor plating. Uranium metal is used for X-ray targets for
production of high-energy X-rays. Previously, the metal was used as photographic toner and the
acetate was used in analytical chemistry.
Isotopes of uranium
There are 27 known isotopes of uranium and all are unstable. Their half-lives range from a few
nanoseconds to billions of years. The half-life of 238U is about 4.47 billion years and that of 235U
is 704 million years, making them useful in dating the age of the Earth. That also suggests that
half of the uranium that existed from the formation of the Earth has decayed to other radioactive
elements and eventually to stable elements. Much of the Earths internal heat is attributed to the
decay of uranium and thorium radioisotopes.
Naturally occurring uranium consists of three major isotopes: 238U (99.28 percent abundance),
235
U (0.71 percent) and 234U (0.0054 percent). All three isotopes are radioactive, with small
probabilities of undergoing spontaneous fission but preferentially decaying by alpha emission.
235
U has is the only naturally occurring fissile isotope. This means it can be split into two or three
fragments (fission products) by thermal neutrons. 238U is fissionable by fast neutrons, and is
fertile, meaning it can be transmuted to fissile 239Pu in a nuclear reactor. 239Pu was used as fissile
material in the first atomic bomb detonated in the "Trinity test" on July 15, 1945 in New Mexico.
Another fissile isotope, 233U, can be produced from natural thoriumand is also important in
nuclear technology. It has a higher fission cross-section for slow neutrons than other uranium
isotopes.
(Source: Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Uranium Quick Facts

A collection of facts about uranium, DUF6, and DOEs DUF6 inventory.

Over the years, the Department of Energy has received numerous inquiries from the public and
particularly from school-aged children, who were interested in understanding more about the
Department's inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride and ultimately, how the Government is
going to address the disposition of this legacy material. The Department put together the
following "fun facts," as a means of putting into perspective the characteristics of this material,

in terms recognizable from everyday life. It is our hope that you will find these "fun facts,"
interesting and thought-provoking, in terms of understanding the challenge before the
Department in managing this material and providing for its ultimate conversion and disposition.
Discovery of Uranium

Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, who isolated an oxide
of uranium while analyzing pitchblende samples from the Joachimsal silver mines in the former
Kingdom of Bohemia located in the present day Czech Republic.
Discovery of Uranium Fissionability

It took until 1938 to discover that uranium could be split to release energy, that is fission. This
was accomplished by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman.
Discovery of Uranium Radioactivity

Henri Antoine Becquerel discovered that uranium was radioactive in 1896.

DUF6 Cylinder Weight Comparisons

A Ticonderoga-class cruiser is about equal in weight to 706 cylinders of depleted uranium

hexafluoride (DUF6). It would take over 70 cruisers to weigh more than the Nation's inventory of
DUF6! The Navy owns only 27 Ticonderoga-class cruisers.
DUF6 Cylinder Weight Comparisons

7,142 cylinders of DUF6 weighs as much as a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The entire inventory
of 57,634 cylinders weighs more than all eight of the Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carriers
combined!
DUF6 Cylinders

Stacking 57,600 standard DUF6 cylinders end to end would make a tower 720,000 feet tall!
That's over 136 miles high!
Energy from Uranium

One ton of natural uranium can produce more than 40 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. This
is equivalent to burning 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil.

Isolation of Uranium

Uranium was isolated in 1841 by French chemist Eugne Pligot.

Naming of Uranium

Uranium was named after the planet Uranus, discovered only eight years earlier in 1791.
Natural Abundance of Uranium

Concentration - uranium ranks 48th among the most abundant elements found in natural crustal
rock.
Nuclear Power and Carbon Emissions

Nuclear power plants helped avoid 90 percent of all carbon emissions averted in the U.S. energy
sector between 1981 and 1994.
One Pound of Uranium

One pound of uranium will make a ball only 1.3 inches in diameter. Make an "OK" sign with
your forefinger and thumb to see how big that ball would be.
Price of Uranium

The price of uranium was approximately $10.75 per pound in early 2003. By mid 2006, the price
had risen to approximately $45.00 per pound. In early 2007 the price approached $100.00 per
pound.
U.S. Nuclear Power Plants

There are currently 104 operating U.S. nuclear power plants that produce over 20 percent of U.S.
electricity.
Uranium Abundance

Uranium is 40 times more naturally abundant than silver.

Uranium Baseball

A major league baseball weighs about 5.25 ounces. A uranium baseball would weigh over 8.5
pounds!

Uranium Burning Point

Finely divided uranium burns readily in air at 150 to 175 degrees Celsius (300 to 350 degrees
Fahrenheit).
Uranium Density

Uranium is very dense. At about 19 grams per cubic centimeter, it is 1.6 times more dense than
lead. Density increases weight. For example, while a gallon of milk weighs about 8 pounds, a
gallon container of uranium would weigh about 150 pounds.
Uranium Glass

Uranium has been used to color glass for almost 2 millennia. A uranium-colored glass object was
found near Naples, Italy, and dated to about 79 A.D. Uranium oxide added to glass produces a
yellow to greenish hue.
Uranium Isotope Proportions

Naturally occurring uranium is 99.2745 percent uranium-238, with uranium-235 (the energy
producing isotope) making up about 0.720 percent, and uranium-234 filling in the remainder at
less than 0.0055 percent.
Uranium Melting Point

Uranium boils at about 3,818 degrees Celsius (about 6,904 degrees Fahrenheit).
Uranium Nucleus

A uranium-238 atom has 92 protons and 146 neutrons in its nucleus.

Volume of DOE DUF6 Inventory

The uranium in the Department's inventory of DUF6, if converted to metal, would make a cube
about 30 meters (about 95 feet) on each side.
Volume of DOE DUF6 Inventory

If converted to uranium metal, all of the uranium in the Nation's DUF6 inventory would cover a
football field to a depth of about 15 feet. It would take water almost 290 feet high on the same
field to weigh as much!

Weight of DOE DUF6 Inventory

The 704,000 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride in the Department's inventory is over 1.5
BILLION pounds! For comparison, the Great Pyramid of Egypt weighs more than 10 billion
pounds.
Weight of DOE DUF6 Inventory

The 704,000 metric tons of DUF6 contains about 476,000 metric tons of uranium and 228,000
metric tons of fluorine. In English, that means over 1 Billion pounds of uranium and over 500
million pounds of fluorine!
Weight of Uranium

A gallon of milk weighs about 8 lbs. A chunk of uranium metal the size of a gallon milk jug
weighs over 150 lbs!
World Uranium Production

World uranium production in 2001 was 35,767 metric tons or 78.9 million pounds.
Worldwide Nuclear Power Production

Worldwide, there are 441 nuclear power plants that supply about 16 percent of the world's
electricity.
Updated December 02, 2014.
You probably know uranium is an element and that it's radioactive. Here are some
other uranium facts for you. You can find detailed information about uranium by
visiting the uranium facts page .
1. Pure uranium is a silvery-white metal.

2. The atomic number of uranium is 92, meaning uranium atoms have 92

protons and usually 92 electrons. The isotope of uranium depends on how
meany neutrons it has.

3. Because uranium is radioactive and always decaying, radium is always found

with uranium ores.

4. Uranium is slightly paramagnetic.

5. Uranium is named for the planet Uranus.

6. Uranium is used to fuel nuclear power plants and in high-density penetrating

ammunition. A single kilogram of uranium-235 theoretically could produce
~80 terajoules of energy, which is equivalent to the energy that could be
produced by 3000 tonnes of coal.

7. Natural uranium ore has been known to fission spontaneously. The Oklo Fossil
Reactors of Gabon, West Africa, contain 15 ancient inactive natural nuclear
fission reactors. The natural ore fissioned back at a prehistoric time when 3%
of the natural uranium existed as uranium-235, which was a high enough
percentage to support a sustained nuclear fission chain reaction.

8. The density of uranium is about 70% higher than lead, but less than that of
gold or tungsten, even though uranium has the second-highest atomic weight
of the naturally occurring elements (second to plutonium-244).

9. Uranium usually has a valence of either 4 or 6.

10.Health effects of uranium typically are not related to the element's

radioactivity, since the alpha particles emitted by uranium cannot even
penetrate skin. Rather, the health impact is related to the toxicity of uranium
and its compounds. Ingestion of hexavalent uranium compounds can cause
birth defects and immune system damage.

11.Finely divided uranium powder is pyrophoric, meaning it will ignite

spontaneously at room temperature.