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The search for uranium ore intensified during the Cold War. In East Germany an extensive uranium mining industry was established. Uranium was mined from 1947 to 1990 from mines in Saxony and Thuringia by the SDAG Wismut. It was mostly used by the Soviet Union to build nuclear fission weapons, and also as fuel for nuclear power plants.
Location Main owner Year discovered Year commenced Grade %U [2] Annual production (tOre) [3] Annual production (tU) [4] Type of mine [5] Don Otto: Salta: Globe Uranium: 1958: 0.15 [6] Presently shut down Cachocira (Cactite) 1999: 0.3: 340: OC Engenlio (Cactite) 2006: OC Australia [7] (See Uranium mining in Australia) Mine Location Main owner ...
Uranium-238 is the most stable isotope of uranium, with a half-life of about 4.463 × 10 9 years, [7] roughly the age of the Earth. Uranium-238 is predominantly an alpha emitter, decaying to thorium-234. It ultimately decays through the uranium series, which has 18 members, into lead-206. [17]
Sample of uranium ore. Uranium ore deposits are economically recoverable concentrations of uranium within Earth's crust. Uranium is one of the most common elements in Earth's crust, being 40 times more common than silver and 500 times more common than gold. [1] It can be found almost everywhere in rock, soil, rivers, and oceans. [2]
The main problems with uranium reprocessing are the cost of mined uranium compared to the cost of reprocessing, [82] [83] At present, reprocessing and the use of plutonium as reactor fuel is far more expensive than using uranium fuel and disposing of the spent fuel directly – even if the fuel is only reprocessed once. [84]
The intensity of sunlight varies inversely with the square of the distance—on Uranus (at about 20 times the distance from the Sun compared to Earth), it is about 1/400 the intensity of light on Earth. [69] The orbital elements of Uranus were first calculated in 1783 by Pierre-Simon Laplace. [70]
The K-25 site was renamed the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant in 1955. Production of enriched uranium ended in 1964, and gaseous diffusion finally ceased on the site on 27 August 1985. The Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant was renamed the Oak Ridge K-25 Site in 1989 and the East Tennessee Technology Park in 1996.
Kvanefjeld (or Kuannersuit), in Greenland, is the site of a mineral deposit, which is claimed to be the world's second-largest deposit of rare-earth oxides, and the sixth-largest deposit of uranium. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] There are also substantial sodium fluoride deposits, and Kvanefjeld is thought to be one of the largest multi-element deposits of its ...