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Discovery -

Uranium was discovered by German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth in 1789.

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Discovery -

Klaproth was studying the mineral pitchblende, when after abnormal chemical reactions he concluded that this was not pitchblende and that he had actually discovered a new element.

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Name -

Klaproth named the new element after the planet Uranus, which had been recently discovered.

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Ancient -

Uranium has been around for a very long time. Records of its use date back to 79 CE, when uranium oxide was used as a coloring agent for glass and in ceramic glazes.

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Glow -

When uranium is used to color glass, it glows in the dark under black light.

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Uranium's color -

Pure uranium is silver, but it oxidizes quickly when exposed to air.

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Pure uranium -

It was not until 1841 that French chemist Eugène-Melchior Péligot isolated pure uranium. He did so by heating uranium tetrachloride with potassium.

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Radioactivity -

In 1896, French physicist Antoine H. Becquerel found that uranium was radioactive, after leaving a sample of it on top of an unexposed photographic plate. The plate became cloudy.

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Radioactivity -

Famed Polish scientist Marie Curie coined the term “radioactivity” following Becquerel's discovery. Marie Curie together with her husband, French scientist Pierre Curie, were pioneers in the study of radioactivity.

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Where did it come from? -

It’s believed that uranium was formed in a supernova about 6.6 billion years ago and made its way to Earth. The element’s slow radioactive decay is the main source of heat inside the planet.

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There’s more uranium than silver -

Uranium is the 48th most abundant element in natural crustal rock, making it 40 times more abundant than silver.

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Rate of decay -

The rate of decay for most types of uranium is quite low, depending on the type of uranium. For instance, Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, and Uranium-234 has a half-life of 245,500 years.

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Rate of decay -

The exception is Uranium-214, which is made artificially and has a half-life of half a millisecond!

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Uranium is not the most radioactive element -

The low rate of decay means that uranium, in general, is not that radioactive. The most radioactive element is actually polonium, which has a half-life of 138 days.

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Nuclear fission -

This by no means makes it safer when it comes to explosive potential. That's thanks to a reaction called nuclear fission, where a very large amount of energy is released. This is the case for Uranium-235, which is another isotope of uranium.

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Nuclear bomb -

Nuclear fission is the basic principle of atomic bombs. The bomb detonated in Hiroshima, for example, had less than a kilogram of uranium, and the blast was equivalent in power to about 15 kilotons of TNT.

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Nuclear bomb -

Only 1.38% of the uranium in the bomb underwent fission. In total, the "Little Boy" bomb contained 140 pounds (64 kg) of uranium.

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Enriching uranium fission -

To make uranium fission more efficient, it must be enriched. Nuclear power plants use enriched uranium to generate energy.

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Depleted uranium -

The leftover product is depleted uranium, which is then used in things such as bullets or tank armor. Depleted uranium is almost half as radioactive as natural uranium.

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Solid uranium oxide -

Yellowcake is the name given to solid uranium oxide. This form of uranium is a yellow powder that is often commercialized before it is enriched.

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Mines -

Uranium is mined in 20 countries around the world. The vast majority of it comes from Kazakhstan, Namibia, Canada, Australia, Niger, and Russia.

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We’re all exposed to uranium -

We are all naturally exposed to very small amounts of uranium. Exposure occurs through food, water, soil, and air, though this level of exposure is safe.

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Who uses nuclear power? -

About 10% of the world's electricity is generated in nuclear reactors. The US, for instance, gets about 20% of its electricity from nuclear sources, whereas countries such as Belgium, Sweden, and Ukraine get 30% or more. France, on the other hand, gets over 70% of its electricity from nuclear reactors.

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Radioisotopes -

Radioisotopes are radioactive isotopes of an element. These can also be described as “atoms that contain an unstable combination of neutrons and protons, or excess energy in their nucleus.”

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Other uses of nuclear energy -

We have been using artificially-produced radioisotopes ever since the 1950s for a variety of things, and the impact on our lives has been tremendous.

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Medicine -

Radioisotopes are widely used for diagnosis and research. For instance, radiation therapy, which is used to treat cancer, employs radioisotopes. Gamma radiation is also used to sterilize a wide range of medical utensils.

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Food -

Radioisotopes are also used in the preservation of food, from killing pests to controlling the ripening of fruit and vegetables.

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Crops and livestock -

Radioisotopes are also useful when it comes to crops and breeding livestock. They are used to produce crops that are more resistant to diseases and the effects of weather.

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Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -

Uranium is used to generate energy and it’s sold to countries that have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The NPT allows for international inspection to confirm uranium is being used for peaceful purposes.

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Disarmament -

A lot of uranium previously destined for military use became available for electricity production following a widespread nuclear disarmament in the 1990s.

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Disarmament -

According to the World Nuclear Association, “over two decades to 2013 one-tenth of US electricity was made from Russian weapons uranium.”

Sources: (World Nuclear Association) (Live Science) (Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation)

See also: Nuclear threat: the most radioactive places on earth

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