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Uranium in the environment is a global health concern, and comes from both natural and man-made sources. Beyond naturally occurring uranium, mining, phosphates in agriculture , weapons manufacturing, and nuclear power are anthropogenic sources of uranium in the environment.
Enrichment processes generate uranium with a higher-than-natural concentration of lower-mass-number uranium isotopes (in particular 235 U, which is the uranium isotope supporting the fission chain reaction) with the bulk of the feed ending up as depleted uranium. Natural uranium metal contains about 0.71% 235 U, 99.28% 238 U, and about 0.0054% ...
Further uranium-236 was produced by the decay of 244 Pu, accounting for the observed higher-than-expected abundance of thorium and lower-than-expected abundance of uranium. [67] While the natural abundance of uranium has been supplemented by the decay of extinct 242 Pu (half-life 375,000 years) and 247 Cm (half-life 16 million years), producing ...
When fired, depleted uranium becomes ‘essentially an exotic metal dart fired at extraordinarily high speed’
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the environment, such as uranium, thorium and potassium-40 (a long-lived beta emitter that is part of natural potassium on earth) and any of the products of the ...
Natural radioactivity detected in soil is predominantly due to the following four natural radioisotopes: 40 K, 226 Ra, 238 U, and 232 Th. In one kilogram of soil, the potassium-40 amounts to an average 370 Bq of radiation, with a typical range of 100–700 Bq; the others each contribute some 25 Bq, with typical ranges of 10–50 Bq (7–50 Bq ...
Vladimir Putin is worried that a modest number of depleted uranium tank shells being supplied for 14 tanks donated to Ukraine amount to nuclear escalation.
Uranium tailings or uranium tails are a radioactive waste byproduct of conventional uranium mining and uranium enrichment. They contain the radioactive decay products from the uranium decay chains, mainly the U-238 chain, and heavy metals. Long-term storage or disposal of tailings may pose a danger for public health and safety.