The Uranium: The Renewable Element

Uranium is a naturally occuring chemical element that can be mined from ore in many parts of the Southwestern United States where

At the beginning of last year, I convinced my family to start using environmentally products, focusing on green technology. In order to apply environmental technology properly and effectively, I had to figure out what alternative forms of energy existed and how well they worked. This led to my questioning: what other forms of energy could the United States be pursuing to increase its production of electricity? In an effort to research different form of energy and their benefits and detriments, I read two articles: “A Letter to the Editor” by David Rockwood and “Why Uranium is the New Green” by William Sweet. In his letter, David Rockwood, a professional engineer, discusses the several inaccuracies and possible ramifications of wind power as a main source of electricity. Rockwood claims that wind power is unreliable because of flaws in its system and design, not to mention the detrimental environmental impact. Similarly, in his article William Sweet, a college graduate, talks about different ways to impose some kind of carbon regulation. Sweet compares nuclear and wind power to coal-burning power, remarking that nuclear and wind power technologies can make an immediate beneficial difference on greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the fact that Rockwood goes in depth on only wind power while Sweet talks about multiple sources of power, both of the articles made me think that the United States should pursue some other form of energy to increase its production of electricity.

Uranium – Chemical symbol U. It has the atomic number of 92, with 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons.

Uranium, element number 92 on the periodic table, was used in the atomic bomb used in the attack of Hiroshima. Plutonium, the 94th element, was used the second bombing of Nagasaki. Uranium's atoms are unusually

Uranium was discovered by Martin Klaproth in 1789. Klaproth was a German Chemist that discovered Uranium in a mineral call pitchblende. It was named after Uranus, the planet, which had been discovered eight years earlier. Uranium occurs in most rocks in concentrations of 2 to 4 parts per million and is common in the Earth’s crust. This highly density element is used in keels of yachts and as counterweights for aircraft control surfaces, as well as for radiation shielding. This element principal uses is in fuel for nuclear reactors and the main raw material for nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium is the waste product of uranium enrichment in nuclear reactors. It is the residue left in massive quantities when bomb-grade uranium is

Half-life is the amount of time for half of an element to decay. Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. That’s quite a long time, long enough for us to easily obtain and use it. Uranium-235 is best best used for nuclear power plants because it is fissile. That means able to undergo fission. Fission is when a neutron collides with atom and causes its nucleus to split into smaller parts. During this process a large amount of energy is released which heats water creating steam which turns a turbine creating energy. Uranium-235 can cause a chain reaction when the neutron hits the atom causing it to split and release more neutrons (an average of 2.5 neutrons are released) and the cycle continues until it stops because the released neutrons failed to hit an atom. A control rod is used to send a neutron into another atom which then restarts the cycle. When a neutron hits a uranium-238, it becomes plutonium-239 which is fissile and can be used in a nuclear power plant. Nuclear power plants provide a lot of the energy we use today and it will be a big help if we built one in East Pennsboro Township. Please take

Uranium is most notably recognised for its radioactivity however, when compared with other radioactive elements, Uranium has quite slow rate of decay (Pappas, 2015). U-235, an isotope of Uranium, can be used in a fission bomb due to the fact that when its nucleus splits it releases substantial amounts of energy. The most infamous example of how uranium has been used in this way is the atomic uranium bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan by the U.S in 1945 (Atomic Heritage Foundation, n.d.). Furthermore, the same properties that allow uranium to be used in a bomb, are valued in the world of nuclear energy. Nuclear power stations use energy from uranium to produce electricity and this production accounts for approximately 11 percent of the

Uranium is utilized in nuclear power plants because of the ability for Uranium-235, to undergo Nuclear Fission. The energy produced is caused by a reaction between Uranium-235 and the constant bombardment of neutrons. This method of energy production creates a uranium rod that has a lower ratio of Uranium-235 to Uranium-238. These rods containing less U-235 are not as reactive as rods rich in the isotope, causing less and less energy to be produced. This by-product is depleted uranium and is still radioactive, but no longer has any use in the generation of energy+. In 1991 this by-product was utilized during the Gulf War as an armor piercing round because of it's high density, and ability to ignite+. The use of depleted uranium as armor-piercing

Several possible health effects are associated with human exposure to radiation from uranium. All uranium isotopes mainly emit alpha particle and so, they have little penetrating ability. Because of how little penetrating ability the have, the main radiation hazard from uranium I caused when uranium compounds are ingested or

Uranium is a chemical element that is silvery-white with an atomic number of 92 having 92 protons and neutrons. In Colorado the Uravan Mineral Belt is the oldest uranium mining in America. It was also has 1,200 historic mines that produce over 63 million pounds of Uranium from 1948 to 1978. Uranium is a hazardous element the reason so is because if inhaling uranium decaying products causes lung cancer also uranium mill tailings contain that contain radioactive ,materials, notably radium-226, and heavy metals which leach out into groundwater and test from mill tailings from water shows that that water contamination are at hundreds of times the government’s acceptable level of drinking water. Uranium plants or mill tailing plants also

These economic concerns are important in the uranium mining because it can make huge profits from that industry and solve the unemployment problem as well. However, there are some important aspects that must be considered such as, uranium as main materials for nuclear weapons, the nuclear power is not efficient and effective, and the harmful radiation from the mining of uranium.

There have been many elements that have been discovered in this world. The two latest elements that have been discovered are ununquadium and ununhexium. Ununquadium is element number 114 on the periodic table. It was given the official name of flerovium by the IUPAC in 2012. Ununhexium is element 116 on the periodic table. It was given the official name of livermorium by the IUPAC in 2012. There are two other elements that have been discovered, but not yet confirmed. Those elements are ununtrium and ununpentium. Ununtrium is element 113 on the periodic table and it has no official name yet. Ununpentium is element 115 on the periodic table and also has no official name yet.

To start things out in terms of accessibility, we look out how terrorist organizations such as ISIS, or al Qaeda can acquire uranium. For that to happen it is almost certain they would have to get it from rogue states like North Korea, Iran, or even Pakistan, but another common thought is they could steal the material from the abundant amount of it left over from the Cold War. The problem with this is terrorist would have to develop the weapon and

DU is the waste product of Uranium and serves many advantages to the military. According to Briner (2010), The Gulf War in 1990 began the introduction of DU in munitions and armor. DU provided a massive advantage over enemy armored vehicles and oppositely, DU armor protected US military vehicles from enemy munitions (p. 304-305). However, the application of DU is

It is not until recently that people have become dependent on this element, and not necessarily for the good of it, and the world. There is an obsession with uranium because of its unique properties. Uranium is extremely powerful because of its radioactive properties and unstable nuclei, especially that of Uranium-235. It is able to break down and release high frequency radiation through alpha and beta decay. It is because of these characteristics that Uranium has such a craze on the population of the world (Cox, 1995; Scerri, 2007). The properties of uranium allow people to create powerful plants to produce electricity, and weapons strong enough to destroy the world.