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Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium radioactively decays, usually by emitting an alpha particle.
Uraninite, also known as pitchblende, is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO 2 but because of oxidation typically contains variable proportions of U 3 O 8. Radioactive decay of the uranium causes the mineral to contain oxides of lead and trace amounts of helium.
Natural uranium contains about 0.72% 235 U. Depleted uranium has lower mass fractions—up to three times less—of 235 U and 234 U than natural uranium. Since 238 U has a much longer half-life than the lighter isotopes, DU is about 40% less radioactive than natural uranium.
Uranium is a highly soluble and radioactive heavy metal. It can be easily dissolved, transported and precipitated within groundwater by subtle changes in oxidation conditions. Uranium does not usually form very insoluble mineral species, which is a further factor in the wide variety of geological conditions and places in which uranium ...
Uranium's radioactivity can present health and environmental issues in the case of nuclear waste produced by nuclear power plants or weapons manufacturing. Uranium is weakly radioactive and remains so because of its long physical half-life (4.468 billion years for uranium-238).
Uranium-235 (235 U or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exists in nature as a primordial nuclide. Uranium-235 has a half-life of 703.8 million years.
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%).
Natural uranium (NU or U nat [1]) is uranium with the same isotopic ratio as found in nature. It contains 0.711% uranium-235 , 99.284% uranium-238 , and a trace of uranium-234 by weight (0.0055%). Approximately 2.2% of its radioactivity comes from uranium-235, 48.6% from uranium-238, and 49.2% from uranium-234.