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Depleted uranium (DU; also referred to in the past as Q-metal, depletalloy or D-38) is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope 235 U than natural uranium. [2] The less radioactive and non-fissile 238 U is the main component of depleted uranium.
According to Michigan State University, the use of uranium was deregulated in 1958, and production of uranium glass picked up again—except this time, only depleted uranium was used.
Special nuclear materials have plutonium, uranium-233 or uranium with U 233 or U 235 that has a content found more than in nature. Source material is thorium or uranium that has a U 235 content equal to or less than what is in nature. Byproduct material is radioactive material that is not source or special nuclear material.
In addition to being cheaper, depleted uranium is also less radioactive due to a lower content of short-lived 234 U and 235 U than natural uranium. Uranium is mined by in-situ leaching (57% of world production) or by conventional underground or open-pit mining of ores (43% of production). During in-situ mining, a leaching solution is pumped ...
When fired, depleted uranium becomes ‘essentially an exotic metal dart fired at extraordinarily high speed’
When fired, depleted uranium becomes ‘essentially an exotic metal dart fired at extraordinarily high speed’
Alpha radiation from inhaled uranium has been demonstrated to cause lung cancer in exposed nuclear workers. [138] While the CDC has published one study that no human cancer has been seen as a result of exposure to natural or depleted uranium, [139] exposure to uranium and its decay products, especially radon, is a significant health threat. [140]
Mixed oxide, or MOX fuel, is a blend of plutonium and natural or depleted uranium which behaves similarly (though not identically) to the enriched uranium feed for which most nuclear reactors were designed. MOX fuel is an alternative to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel used in the light water reactors which predominate nuclear power generation.