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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%).
Natural uranium is made weapons-grade through isotopic enrichment. Initially only about 0.7% of it is fissile U-235, with the rest being almost entirely uranium-238 (U-238). They are separated by their differing masses. Highly enriched uranium is considered weapons-grade when it has been enriched to about 90% U-235. [citation needed]
The term Strategic Special Nuclear Material (SSNM) refers to Uranium-235 contained in uranium enriched above 20 percent (Highly Enriched Uranium), as well as any concentration of Uranium-233 or Plutonium. [1] The distinction between SNM and SSNM is due to the fact that uranium-235 is typically found mixed with other isotopes such as Uranium-238.
World uranium reserves in 2010. Uranium reserves are reserves of recoverable uranium, regardless of isotope, based on a set market price. The list given here is based on Uranium 2020: Resources, Production and Demand, a joint report by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency. [1] Figures are given in metric ...
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.
The enriched uranium was used in the Little Boy atomic bomb used in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. In 1946, the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant became capable of producing highly enriched product. After the war, four more gaseous diffusion plants named K-27, K-29, K-31 and K-33 were added to the site.
Those blueprints were stolen from the Urenco administration. In early 1974, Khan joined the Project-706 uranium enrichment programme, launched by Munir Ahmad Khan under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani Prime Minister at that time. Later, he took over the project, and established a facility that produced highly enriched uranium (HEU).
Later in March 2012 Rachel Maddow reported that all highly enriched uranium had been removed from Mexico. [10] [11] In October 2010 Mexico signed a contract with the Russian uranium supplier Rosatom, which will supply low enriched uranium (3%, a level of enrichment unsuitable for weapons) for the Mexican nuclear power plant Laguna Verde. [12]