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Uranium-238 (238 U or U-238) is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature, with a relative abundance of 99%. Unlike uranium-235, it is non-fissile, which means it cannot sustain a chain reaction in a thermal-neutron reactor. However, it is fissionable by fast neutrons, and is fertile, meaning it can be transmuted to fissile plutonium-239.
Pu-239 is produced artificially in nuclear reactors when a neutron is absorbed by U-238, forming U-239, which then decays in a rapid two-step process into Pu-239. [22] It can then be separated from the uranium in a nuclear reprocessing plant. [23] Weapons-grade plutonium is defined as being predominantly Pu-239, typically about 93% Pu-239. [24]
The less radioactive and non-fissile 238 U is the main component of depleted uranium. Uranium is notable for the extremely high density of its metallic form: at 19.1 grams per cubic centimetre (0.69 lb/cu in), uranium is 68.4% more dense than lead. Depleted uranium, which has about the same density as natural uranium, is used when this high ...
(Reuters) -Uranium prices gained on Friday after Russia imposed temporary restrictions on the export of enriched uranium to the United States. The move by Russia, the world's largest supplier of ...
It's one of the world's biggest suppliers of high-grade uranium, selling $2.6 billion worth of nuclear fuel last year, turning $339 million of it into net income thanks to its low-cost operation ...
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Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235 U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation.Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 U with 99.2732–99.2752% natural abundance), uranium-235 (235 U, 0.7198–0.7210%), and uranium-234 (234 U, 0.0049–0.0059%).
Uranium-238 is predominantly an alpha emitter, decaying to thorium-234. It ultimately decays through the uranium series, which has 18 members, into lead-206. [17] Uranium-238 is not fissile, but is a fertile isotope, because after neutron activation it can be converted to plutonium-239