URANIUM ENRICHMENT
- April 15, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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URANIUM ENRICHMENT
Subject: Science & tech
Context: Iran ‘almost’ ready for 60% uranium enrichment: UN nuclear agency.
Concept:
- Uranium enrichment is a process that is necessary to create an effective nuclear fuel out of mined uranium by increasing the percentage of uranium-235 which undergoes fission with thermal neutrons.
- Nuclear fuel is mined from naturally occurring uranium ore deposits and then isolated through chemical reactions and separation processes.
- These chemical processes used to separate the uranium from the ore are not to be confused with the physical and chemical processes used to enrich the uranium.
- Naturally occurring uranium does not have a high enough concentration of Uranium-235 at only about 0.72% with the remainder being Uranium-238.
- Due to the fact that uranium-238 is fissionable and not fissile, the concentration of uranium-235 must be increased before it can be effectively used as a nuclear fuel.