Uranium: Nuclear Friend Or Nuclear Foe

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deaths were due
to lung cancer. But with their scientific knowledge the doctors could only
assume that the deaths were caused by the inhalation of arsenic. Later
studies between 1900 and 1940 found that the deaths were caused by
radiation in the mines.
The radiation the miners were exposed to would later be identified
as uranium. Uranium is a natural occurring element, it has a atomic count
of 92. Uranium is easily identified by its properties. Uranium melts at
about 1132°C, boils at about 3818°C, and has a specific gravity of 19.05 at
25°C. Uranium has three crystalline forms, of which the one that forms at
about 770°C is malleable and ductile. Uranium is soluble in hydrochloric
acids and nitric acids, but not in alkalies.
Uranium never occurs naturally in the free state but is found as an
oxide or complex salt in minerals such as pitchblende and carnotite. It has
an average concentration in the earths crust of about 2 parts per million,
and ranks 48th among the natural ...

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of energy and the presence of
barium were caused by the splitting of uranium atoms. It was at that moment
that the world was first introduced to man controlled nuclear power.
After the successful splitting of an atom, many nations set to work
to find a way to produce and extract energy from the reaction. The first
generation of electric power from nuclear power was achieved at a reactor
testing center in Arco, Idaho. This early generating plant utilized a form
of nuclear energy call fission. In this process uranium-235's nuclei is
split open when struck by an sub-atomic particle called a neutron. This
breaking open releases two or three neutrons which then split open ...

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