Related Research Articles
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions,either fission or a combination of fission and fusion reactions,producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb types release large quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter.
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission,nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently,the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear power plants. Nuclear decay processes are used in niche applications such as radioisotope thermoelectric generators in some space probes such as Voyager 2. Generating electricity from fusion power remains the focus of international research.
Uranium is a chemical element;it has symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons,of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium radioactively decays,usually by emitting an alpha particle. The half-life of this decay varies between 159,200 and 4.5 billion years for different isotopes,making them useful for dating the age of the Earth. The most common isotopes in natural uranium are uranium-238 and uranium-235. Uranium has the highest atomic weight of the primordially occurring elements. Its density is about 70% higher than that of lead and slightly lower than that of gold or tungsten. It occurs naturally in low concentrations of a few parts per million in soil,rock and water,and is commercially extracted from uranium-bearing minerals such as uraninite.
Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes:uranium-238,uranium-235,and uranium-234. 235U is the only nuclide existing in nature that is fissile with thermal neutrons.
A non-renewable resource is a natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption. An example is carbon-based fossil fuels. The original organic matter,with the aid of heat and pressure,becomes a fuel such as oil or gas. Earth minerals and metal ores,fossil fuels and groundwater in certain aquifers are all considered non-renewable resources,though individual elements are always conserved.
From the 1960s to the 1990s,South Africa pursued research into weapons of mass destruction,including nuclear,biological,and chemical weapons under the apartheid government. South Africa’s nuclear weapons doctrine was designed for political leverage rather than actual battlefield use,specifically to induce the United States of America to intervene in any regional conflicts between South Africa and the Soviet Union or its proxies. To achieve a minimum credible deterrence,a total of six nuclear weapons were covertly assembled by the late 1980s.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative,generally referred to as NTI,is a non-profit organization located in Washington,D.C. The American foreign policy think tank was founded in 2001 by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn and philanthropist Ted Turner and describes itself as a "nonprofit,nonpartisan global security organization focused on reducing nuclear and biological threats imperiling humanity."
Cameco Corporation is the world's largest publicly traded uranium company,based in Saskatoon,Saskatchewan,Canada. In 2015,it was the world's second largest uranium producer,accounting for 18% of world production.
PUREX is a chemical method used to purify fuel for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. PUREX is the de facto standard aqueous nuclear reprocessing method for the recovery of uranium and plutonium from used nuclear fuel. It is based on liquid–liquid extraction ion-exchange.
Project 596 was the first nuclear weapons test conducted by the People's Republic of China,detonated on 16 October 1964,at the Lop Nur test site. It was a uranium-235 implosion fission device made from weapons-grade uranium (U-235) enriched in a gaseous diffusion plant in Lanzhou.
Orano Cycle,formerly COGEMA and Areva NC,is a French nuclear fuel company. It is the main subsidiary of Orano S.A. It is an industrial group active in all stages of the uranium fuel cycle,including uranium mining,conversion,enrichment,spent fuel reprocessing,and recycling.
The Urenco Group is a British-German-Dutch nuclear fuel consortium operating several uranium enrichment plants in Germany,the Netherlands,United States,and United Kingdom. It supplies nuclear power stations in about 15 countries,and states that it had a 29% share of the global market for enrichment services in 2011. Urenco uses centrifuge enrichment technology.
The uranium market,like all commodity markets,has a history of volatility,moving with the standard forces of supply and demand as well as geopolitical pressures. It has also evolved particularities of its own in response to the unique nature and use of uranium.
Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. Over 50,000 tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan,Canada,and Australia were the top three uranium producers,respectively,and together account for 68% of world production. Other countries producing more than 1,000 tons per year included Namibia,Niger,Russia,Uzbekistan,the United States,and China. Nearly all of the world's mined uranium is used to power nuclear power plants. Historically uranium was also used in applications such as uranium glass or ferrouranium but those applications have declined due to the radioactivity and toxicity of uranium and are nowadays mostly supplied with a plentiful cheap supply of depleted uranium which is also used in uranium ammunition. In addition to being cheaper,depleted uranium is also less radioactive due to a lower content of short-lived 234
U and 235
U than natural uranium.
The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) was established as a public company by the Republic of South Africa Nuclear Energy Act in 1999 and is wholly owned by the State.
SAFARI-1 is a 20 MW light water-cooled,beryllium reflected,pool-type research reactor,initially used for high level nuclear physics research programmes and was commissioned in 1965.
Nuclear weapons testing,uranium mining and export,and nuclear power have often been the subject of public debate in Australia,and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history. Its origins date back to the 1972–1973 debate over French nuclear testing in the Pacific and the 1976–1977 debate about uranium mining in Australia.
Anti-nuclear organizations may oppose uranium mining,nuclear power,and/or nuclear weapons. Anti-nuclear groups have undertaken public protests and acts of civil disobedience which have included occupations of nuclear plant sites. Some of the most influential groups in the anti-nuclear movement have had members who were elite scientists,including several Nobel Laureates and many nuclear physicists.
Uranium One is an international group of companies,part of the management circuit of the TENEX Group of Rosatom State Corporation. Since 2013,it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Moscow-based Uranium One Group,a part of the Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Uranium production is an important part of the African economy,with Niger,Namibia and South Africa creating up to 18% of the world's annual production. Many African countries produce uranium or have untapped uranium ore deposits.
References
- ↑ "Gabrielle Hecht | Department of History". history.stanford.edu.
