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Uranium mining produces toxic tailings that are radioactive and may contain other toxic elements such as radon. Dust and water leaving tailing sites may carry long-lived radioactive elements that enter water sources and the soil, increase background radiation , and eventually be ingested by humans and animals.
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.
Plants absorb some uranium from soil. Dry weight concentrations of uranium in plants range from 5 to 60 parts per billion, and ash from burnt wood can have concentrations up to 4 parts per million. [30] Dry weight concentrations of uranium in food plants are typically lower with one to two micrograms per day ingested through the food people eat ...
The actinide series is a group of chemical elements with atomic numbers ranging from 89 to 102, [note 1] including notable elements such as uranium and plutonium.The nuclides (or isotopes) thorium-232, uranium-235, and uranium-238 occur primordially, while trace quantities of actinium, protactinium, neptunium, and plutonium exist as a result of radioactive decay and (in the case of neptunium ...
It became popular in the U.S. and uranium was widely used to color glassware until 1943, when the government started regulating its use so that they could save uranium to build atom bombs.
One of the advantages of this method is that any sample provides two clocks, one based on uranium-235's decay to lead-207 with a half-life of about 703 million years, and one based on uranium-238's decay to lead-206 with a half-life of about 4.5 billion years, providing a built-in crosscheck that allows accurate determination of the age of the ...
It's easy to lose track of nuclear news out of Oak Ridge. Here's why the Sept. 4 announcement was so different.
The second method uses a survey of deep-rooted plants in an area of interest. This works because the plant roots carry uranium to the surface, where it is concentrated in growing areas of the plant. Juniper or saltbrush are usually used, as they are known uranium concentrators. Samples of tree branch tips and leaves are taken from each area in ...