Uranium – history and revolution
Uranium was isolated in 1841 by French Chemist Eugène Péligot. Henri Antoine Becquerel discovered its radioactive properties in 1896. It took until 1938 to discover that uranium could be split to release energy. This process is called fission. This was accomplished by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman.
Uranium – abundance
Concentrated deposits of uranium ores are found in just a few places. Uranium has been mined in Canada, the southwest United States, Australia, parts of Europe, the former Soviet Union, Namibia, South Africa, Niger and elsewhere. World uranium production in 2004 was estimated at around 100 million pounds. This figure is expected to rise as Central Asian nations like Kazakhstan begin to expand their uranium mining industries.
Uranium – the metal
Uranium has many uses outside the nuclear power industry. The high density of Uranium means that it also finds uses in the keels of yachts and as counterweights for aircraft control surfaces (rudders and elevators), as well as for radiation shielding. It is also used as ammunition for some types of military weaponry, and in small nuclear reactors to produce isotopes for medical and industrial purposes around the world. It is used as a target for X-ray production and in the gyroscopes of inertial guidance systems.
Uranium – the environment
In February 2005 the Kyoto agreement, which was signed by many of the world’s nations requiring them to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 5% below their 1990 levels by 2010, was implemented. An increase in the number of nuclear reactors would have the benefit of making significant reductions in the emission of greenhouse gases. A reactor emits almost no emissions in heavy contrast with the coal-fired power plants that are currently the world’s largest supplier of energy – and air-borne carbon.