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Why is it necessary to enrich the uranium before manufacturing the fuel pellets?
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
Natural uranium is only 0.72% fissile uranium-235 isotope. This is only fissionable when using heavy water as the moderator to slow the fission neutrons. With any other moderator you need 3% to 5% uranium-235 isotope. For unmoderated fast neutron reactors like breeders you need 20% to 95% uranium-235 isotope.
Wiki User
∙ 13y ago
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What was the function of graphite in the first atomic reaction?
moderator, it slowed fast neutrons to thermal velocities so that they would be less likely to be captured by uranium-238 before they could fission uranium-235.
What was uranium used for before the atom bomb?
Colouring glass and ceramics, also for furnitures, mordant for textiles, photographic reagent
What do scientists have to do with the uranium before using in a nuclear bomb?
To use natural uranium in a bomb either of 2 things must be done first, both are expensive and require large infrastructure investment to do them:Enrich the uranium from 0.72% uranium-235 (natural) to 93.5% uranium-235 (Oralloy or HEU).Process the uranium to turn some of the uranium-238 to plutonium-239 in a reactor then chemicallly separate the plutonium from the rest of the irradiated material chemically.In WW2 the US did step 1 at Oak Ridge, TN using a gigantic gaseous diffusion enrichment plant and an electromagnetic separation plant; and step 2 at Hanford, WA using several graphite moderated reactors and large chemical separation plants called "canyons".
How much coal gives same energy as 1kg of uranium fuel pellets?
I have a figure but this is for 1 kg of Uranium 235, normally reactor fuel is about 4 percent of this isotope, so the amount of coal would be divided by 25 if we are talking about uranium as used in PWR or BWR reactors. Also this figure is for complete use of the U235, whereas for practical reasons of maintaining reactor performance, fuel is unloaded and replaced before it is all used up. So bearing in mind the above, 1 kg of U235 will produce as much energy as 1500 tons of coal. Let's try: 1kg of U235 (3,75%) has 83,14 TJ/kg. 1J=1Ws (3600Ws=1Wh). 1TJ=1000GJ=1 mio MJ 1kg of coal has 6000Wh/kg. I get 3850tons.
How were you able to discover an element before the invention of modern instruments?
Before instruments were invented to aid in the discovery of different elements, the discovery of most elements was by accident. Madame Curie discovered uranium, but did not know at the time that it was radioactive.
What element comes before uranium and after on table?
Before uranium is protactinium. After uranium is neptunium.
When inserting subcutaneous pellets how long will they last before replacing?
When inserting subcutaneous pellets how long will they last before needing to be replaced?
What was used before uranium?
Before uranium discovery and before the 150 years long study of its properties the nuclear energy was nonexistent.
Is uranium dangerous before it is processed?
Processed or not uranium has some disadvantages: 1. Uranium is a possible polluting agent of the natural environment. 2. Uranium is a toxic and radioactive chemical element. 3. Uranium release radium and radon.
What origin does the name uranium come from?
Uranium name is derived from the name of the planet Uranus. Uranus was discovered a few years before the discovery of Klaproth in 1789 - a mineral containing uranium.
What was uranium used for before 1920?
For colouring glasses and ceramics.
Is uranium 238 a natural element?
yes, it was formed in supernova explosions that occurred before the formation of the solar system
Your fish are spoiled and will only eat brine shrimp and bloodworm's how do you get them to except pellets?
Try soaking your pellets/flakes in bloodworm juice or mix the two before feeding.
Was uranium formed when the earth was formed so it will never run out?
No and no. Uranium was formed before the Earth formed. Even the uranium that's IN the Earth was formed before the Earth was formed, by the process of stellar nucleosynthesis. Also, the most stable isotopes of uranium do have very long half-lives, but they are still radioactive, meaning that they eventually will decay into other materials.
Why does uranium ore have to be enriched before its used in a nuclear power plant?
1. Uranium must be refined to obtain "nuclear grade" uranium. 2. The enrichment in the isotope 235U depends on the type of the nuclear reactor; some reactors (as CANDU) work with natural uranium.
Compared to the mass of a uranium nucleus before splitting the pieces it splits into have?
The masses of fission products are of course smaller than the masses of uranium isotopes.
Is a bb gun better than a pellet gun for squrell hunting?
No. BB's do not fly as straight as pellets. Pellets deform when they hit a target and have more knock down power. BB's do not deform when they strike and will make the rodent suffer before death where as pellets make a clean kill.
