Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Uranium |
UraniumNoun1. A heavy toxic silvery-white radioactive metallic element; occurs in many isotopes; used for nuclear fuels and nuclear weapons. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Etymology: Uranium \U*ra"ni*um\, noun. [New Latin expression, from Uranus the planet. See Uranus.]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definition |
Chemistry | Chemical element:atomic number 92. Source: European Union. (references) |
Energy | A radioactive element with the atomic number 92 and, as found in natural ores, an atomic weight of approximately 238. The two principal natural isotopes are uranium-235 (0.7 percent of natural uranium), which is fissile, and uranium-238 (99.3 percent of natural uranium), which is fissionable by fast neutrons and is fertile. Natural uranium also includes a minute amount of uranium-234. (references) |
| A radioactive element, found in ores, ofwhich atoms can be split to create energy. (references) | |
Health | A radioactive element of the actinide series of metals. It has an atomic symbol U, atomic number 92, and atomic weight 238.03. U-235 is used as the fissionable fuel in nuclear weapons and as fuel in nuclear power reactors. (references) |
Mining | A radioactive, silvery-white, metallic element. Symbol, U. Occurs in numerous minerals such as pitchblende, uraninite, carnotite, autunite, uranophane, davidite, and tobernite. It is also found in phosphate rock, lignite, and monazite sands. Uranium and its compounds are highly toxic, both chemically and radiologically. Uranium is of great importance as a nuclear fuel; it is used as ballast for missile reentry vehicles, as a shielding material, and for production of high-energy X-rays. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Uranium metal has three allotropic forms:
The artificial 233U isotope is also fissile and is made from 232thorium by neutron bombardment.
Uranium was the first element that was found to be fissile, i.e. upon bombardment with slow neutrons, its 235U isotope becomes the very short lived 236U, that immediately divides into two smaller nuclei, liberating energy and more neutrons. If these neutron are absorbed by other 235U nuclei, a nuclear chain reaction occurs, and if there isn't anything to absorb some neutrons and slow the reaction, it is explosive. The first atomic bomb worked with by this principle (nuclear fission). A more accurate name for both this and the hydrogen bomb (nuclear fusion) would be "nuclear weapon", because only the nuclei participate.
Uraninite is the most common ore of uranium.
Yellowcake is uranium concentrate. It takes its name from the color and texture of the concentrates produced by early mining operations, despite the fact that modern mills using higher calcining temperatures produce "yellowcake" that is dull green to almost black. Yellowcake typically contains 70 to 90 percent uranium oxide (U3O8) by weight.
Ammonium diuranate is an intermediate product in the production of yellowcake, and is bright yellow in colour. It is sometimes confusingly called "yellowcake" but this is not a standard name.
Uranium ore is rock containing uranium mineralization in concentrations that can be mined economically, typically 1 to 4 pounds of uranium oxide per ton or 0.05 to 0.20 percent uranium oxide.
Uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) is known as "green salt" and is an intermediate product in the production of uranium hexaflouride.
Uranium hexafluoride (UF6) is a white solid which forms a vapor at temperatures above 56 degrees Centigrade. UF6 is the compound of uranium used for the two most common enrichment processes, gaseous diffusion enrichment and centrifuge enrichment. It is simply called "hex" in the industry.
Enriched uranium is uranium in which the 235U isotope concentration has been increased to greater than the 0.711 percent 235U (by weight) currently present in most natural uranium. Uranium with less than 0.711 percent U-235 has been found in the area of Oklo in Africa.
Depleted uranium or "DU" is uranium in which the 235U isotope concentration has been decreased to less than 0.711 percent. It is a waste product from the enrichment process, and is used in aircraft counterweights and in munitions.
Uranium was discovered in 1789 by the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth as part of the mineral called pitchblende. It was named after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered eight years earlier.
In the Manhattan Project the names tuballoy and oralloy were used to refer to natural uranium and enriched uranium respectively. These names are still used occasionally to refer to natural or enriched uranium.
The exploration and mining of radioactive ores in the United States began around the turn of the 20th century. Sources for radium (contained in uranium ore) were sought for use as luminous paint for watch dials and other instruments. Uranium became important for defense purposes during World War II. In 1943, the Union Mines Development Corporation operated mills in Colorado to process uranium ore for the Manhattan Project, which applied atomic power to military use. To ensure adequate supplies of uranium for national defense, Congress passed the U.S. Atomic Energy Act of 1946, creating the Atomic Energy Commission. Military requirements declined in the 1960s, and the Government completed its uranium procurement program by the end of 1970. Simultaneously, a new market emerged - commercial nuclear power plants.
Owners and operators of U.S. civilian nuclear power reactors purchased from U.S. and foreign suppliers a total of 21,300 tons of uranium deliveries during 2001. The average price paid was $26.39 per kilogram of uranium, a decrease of 16 percent compared with the 1998 price.
In year 2001, the U.S. produced 1,018 tons of uranium from 7 mining operations, all of which are west of the Mississippi River.
Uranium is distributed worldwide, especially by the French. Generally, large countries produce more uranium than smaller ones because the worldwide distribution or uranium is very roughly uniform. Australia has extensive uranium deposits making up approximately 30% of the world's known uranium reserves.
Uranium contamination in food and soil is a problem in some areas. Uranium is not particularily rare; it is more common than tungsten, beryllium, or gold. This same problem also exists with thorium, which is much more abundant.
External Links:
Some Important Materials Containing Uranium
Historical Background (at least the US version)
Statistics:
See also: nuclear physics, nuclear weapon, nuclear reactor, nuclear engineering, Depleted uranium
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Uranium."
Synonym: UraniumSynonym: atomic number 92 (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Calefaction | Cauterizer; caustic, lunar caustic, alkali, apozem, moxa; acid, aqua fortis, aqua regia; catheretic, nitric acid, nitrochloro-hydric acid, nitromuriatic acid; radioactivity, gamma rays, alpha particles, beta rays, X-rays, radiation, cosmic radiation, background radiation, radioactive isotopes, tritium, uranium, plutonium, radon, radium. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Uranium Boom (1956) Dig That Uranium (1956) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Midnite Uranium Mine in Stevens County, Washington, before reclamation. Credit: Kelly Courtright. |  | Sherwood Uranium Mine in Stevens County, Washington, before reclamation. Credit: Kelly Courtright. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | Romania has its own uranium deposits as well as enriched uranium and heavy water producing facilities. (references) | |
The main reason for the government's affinity for nuclear power is simple, uranium supplies (for which the country has three year's worth in reserves) are cheaper to import than are oil, gas, and coal. If Korea expands upon nuclear power generation, then it can decrease its dependency upon other countries for fossil resources. (references) | ||
Economic History | Chad | Chad has uranium deposits in the far north. (references) |
Argentina | Minerals: lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron, manganese, oil, uranium. (references) | |
Denmark | Greenland--fish, zinc, lead, molybdenum, uranium, gold, platinum. (references) | |
Political Economy | ARGENTINA | An amendment to the treaty removed mining, except uranium production, from the list of exceptions. (references) |
Niger | Uranium is the most important export, though declining world demand has made this sector less profitable. (references) | |
Kazakhstan | In1994, Kazakhstan transferred over a half-ton of weapons-grade uranium to the U.S. and in 1995 Kazakhstan removed its last nuclear warheads. (references) | |
Trade | Hungary | Furthermore products which are typically controlled in the United States and other western countries such as arms/ammunition, military equipment, hazardous materials, materials for biological weapons, psychotropic products and drug precursors, special paper types used for banknotes and securities, nuclear products and uranium ore are similarly controlled in Hungary. (references) |
Worker Rights | Niger | Although generally satisfied with the safety equipment provided by employers, citing in particular adequate protection from radiation in the uranium mines, union workers are in many cases not well informed of the risks posed by their jobs. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
George W. Bush | 2001-2005 | Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Uranium" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Uranium" is used about 502 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 502 | 12,008 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Country | Name |
| USA | Uranium Resources, Inc. |
| (more examples...) |
Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.
Expressions using "uranium": enriched uranium ♦ enriched uranium reactor ♦ equivalent uranium content ♦ low enriched uranium ♦ metric ton of uranium ♦ natural uranium reactor ♦ uranium 235 ♦ uranium 238 ♦ Uranium Compounds ♦ uranium deposit ♦ uranium fuel ♦ uranium hexafluoride ♦ uranium material ♦ uranium ore ♦ uranium tetrafluoride ♦ uranium trioxide. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "uranium": uranium-based, uranium-enriching, uranium-enrichment, uranium-fuel, uranium-fueled, uranium-graphite-gas, uranium-mineralised, uranium-molybdenum, uranium-powered, uranium-processing, uranium-seller, uranium-series. | |
Ending with "uranium": and-uranium, anti-uranium. | |
Containing "uranium": natural-uranium-fueled. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "uranium"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Afrikaans | uraan. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | uraniumi, uranium. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | اليورانيم عنصر فلزية. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | уранов, уран. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | ", 鈾 . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | uran (Uranus). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | uran. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | uranium. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | اورانیوم(ش.). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | uraani. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | uranium. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | Uran. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | ουράνιο. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | אור יום. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | uránium. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Irish | úrÚiniam. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | uranio. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | ウ ラウト符号 (umlaut, Ural). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | ウラン , ウラニウ . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 우라늄. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | aniumuray urânio. (various references) uraniu. (various references) урановый, уран (uranus). (various references) uranijumski, uranijum. (various references) uranio. (various references) uran. (various references) uranyum. (various references) уран. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "uranium": uraniums. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "uranium": transuranium. (additional references) | |
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"Uranium" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: arabicum, Eranio, guranium, ranium, Rubrianum, ukaiim, ukanian, Ulanfu, Ulanhu, uralium, Urania, uranion, uranism, uraniun, urany, uridium. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "uranium" (pronounced yerā"nēum) |
| 6 | -er ā" n ē u m | geranium. |
| 5 | -ā" n ē u m | titanium. |
| 4 | -n ē u m | ammonium, condominium, gonium, hafnium, harmonium, millennium, minium, neptunium, pandemonium, plutonium, polonium, selenium, zirconium. |
| 3 | -ē u m | alluvium, aquarium, atrium, auditorium, axiom, bacterium, barium, beryllium, cadmium, calcium, cesium, chromium, colloquium, compendium, consortium, crematorium, delirium, deuterium, disequilibrium, emporium, equilibrium, europium, fermium, gallium, gymnasium, helium, Herbarium, holmium, honorarium, idiom, indium, iridium, lawrencium, linoleum, lithium, magnesium, medium, moratorium, myocardium, nephridium, niobium, nobelium, opium, opprobrium, osmium, palladium, paramecium, petroleum, planetarium, Plasmodium, podium, potassium, premium, presidium, promethium, protium, psyllium, radium, requiem, rhodium, sodium, stadium, strontium, superpremium, symposium, tedium, tellurium, thallium, thorium, tritium, vanadium, yttrium. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-i-m-n-r-u-u" | |
-1 letter: rumina. | |
-2 letters: aurum, inarm, unarm. | |
-3 letters: airn, amin, amir, arum, main, mair, maun, mina, muni, mura, rain, rami, rani, ruin, unai, unau. | |
-4 letters: aim, ain, air, ami, amu, ani, arm, man, mar, mir, mun, nam, nim, ram, ran, ria, rim, rin, rum, run, urn. | |
-5 letters: ai, am, an, ar, in, ma, mi, mu, na, nu. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-i-m-n-r-u-u" | |
+1 letter: uraniums. | |
+2 letters: anthurium, duralumin, manubrium. | |
+3 letters: anthuriums, duralumins, manubriums, nasturtium. | |
+4 letters: albuminuria, albuminuric, circumlunar, nasturtiums, quadrennium, retinaculum. | |
+5 letters: albuminurias, hibernaculum, multinuclear, quadrenniums, rambunctious, subminiature, transuranium. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)55 72 61 6E 69 75 6D |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)..- .-. .- -. .. ..- -- |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010101 01110010 01100001 01101110 01101001 01110101 01101101 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)U r a n i u m |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0055 0072 0061 006E 0069 0075 006D |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)55846780758779 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Quotations: Speeches 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Company Usage 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Orthography 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
