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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.
U-235 and U-238 occur naturally in nearly all rock, soil, and water. U-238 is the most abundant form in the environment. U-235 can be concentrated in a process called “enrichment,” making it suitable for use in nuclear reactors or weapons.
Uranium 238, which alone constitutes 99.28% of natural uranium, is the most common isotope of uranium in nature. Uranium 238 has the longest half-life (4.47×10 9 years), and therefore its abundance is so high. Uranium 238 is a fissionable isotope but is not a fissile isotope.
Uranium-238 (Uranium I) is the radioisotope of the element Uranium, whose atomic nucleus has 146 neutrons in addition to the element-specific 92 protons, resulting in a mass number of 238. See also: list of Uranium isotopes.
The series starts with uranium-238. The nuclear disintegration of uranium-238 forms radium-226 which disintegrates to form radon gas (radon-222). Radon decays to form a series of daughter nuclides, most of which are alpha-particle-releasing isotopes, such as polonium-210.
Uranium-238 (238 U or U-238) is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature. It is not fissile, but is fertile: it can capture a slow neutron and after two beta decays become fissile plutonium-239.
It is now known that uranium, radioactive in all its isotopes, consists naturally of a mixture of uranium-238 (99.27 percent, 4,510,000,000-year half-life), uranium-235 (0.72 percent, 713,000,000-year half-life), and uranium-234 (0.006 percent, 247,000-year half-life).
Isotopic Properties of Uranium. Natural Uranium – contains a 238 U concentration of 99.27 percent, 235 U concentration of 0.711 percent and very little 234 U. Low Enriched Uranium – contains a 235 U concentration between 0.711 percent and 20 percent.
Uranium-238 decays by alpha emission into thorium-234, which itself decays by beta emission to protactinium-234, which decays by beta emission to uranium-234, and so on. The various decay products, (sometimes referred to as “progeny” or “daughters”) form a series starting at uranium-238.
Uranium-238 (U-238), is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature. When hit by a neutron , it becomes uranium-239 (U-239), an unstable element which decays into neptunium -239 (Np-239), which then itself decays, with a half-life of 2.355 days, into plutonium-239 (Pu-239).