Editing Uranium (section)

==Applications==

===Military===
[[File:30mm DU slug.jpg|thumb|left|Various militaries use depleted uranium as high-density penetrators.|alt=Shiny metallic cylinder with a sharpened tip. The overall length is 9&nbsp;cm and diameter about 2&nbsp;cm.]]

The major application of uranium in the military sector is in high-density penetrators. This ammunition consists of [[depleted uranium]] (DU) alloyed with 1–2% other elements, such as [[titanium]] or [[molybdenum]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabe.htm#TAB_E_Development_of_DU_Munitions|title=Development of DU Munitions |year=2000|work=Depleted Uranium in the Gulf (II)|publisher=Gulflink, official website of Force Health Protection & Readiness}}</ref> At high impact speed, the density, hardness, and [[pyrophoricity]] of the projectile enable the destruction of heavily armored targets. Tank armor and other removable [[vehicle armor]] can also be hardened with depleted uranium plates. The use of depleted uranium became politically and environmentally contentious after the use of such munitions by the US, UK and other countries during wars in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans raised questions concerning uranium compounds left in the soil (see [[Gulf War syndrome]]).<ref name="EncyIntel" />

Depleted uranium is also used as a shielding material in some containers used to store and transport radioactive materials. While the metal itself is radioactive, its high density makes it more effective than [[lead]] in halting radiation from strong sources such as [[radium]].<ref name="SciTechEncy" /> Other uses of depleted uranium include counterweights for aircraft control surfaces, as ballast for missile [[atmospheric reentry|re-entry vehicles]] and as a shielding material.<ref name="LANL" /> Due to its high density, this material is found in [[inertial guidance system]]s and in [[gyroscope|gyroscopic]] [[compass]]es.<ref name="LANL" /> Depleted uranium is preferred over similarly dense metals due to its ability to be easily machined and cast as well as its relatively low cost.{{sfn|Emsley|2001|p=480}} The main risk of exposure to depleted uranium is chemical poisoning by [[uranium oxide]] rather than radioactivity (uranium being only a weak [[alpha decay|alpha emitter]]).

During the later stages of [[World War II]], the entire [[Cold War]], and to a lesser extent afterwards, uranium-235 has been used as the fissile explosive material to produce nuclear weapons. Initially, two major types of fission bombs were built: a relatively simple device that uses uranium-235 and a more complicated mechanism that uses [[plutonium-239]] derived from uranium-238. Later, a much more complicated and far more powerful type of fission/fusion bomb ([[thermonuclear weapon]]) was built, that uses a plutonium-based device to cause a mixture of [[tritium]] and [[deuterium]] to undergo [[nuclear fusion]]. Such bombs are jacketed in a non-fissile (unenriched) uranium case, and they derive more than half their power from the fission of this material by [[fast neutron]]s from the nuclear fusion process.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/design.htm
 |title=Nuclear Weapon Design
 |publisher=Federation of American Scientists
 |date=1998
 |access-date=19 February 2007
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226091803/https://fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/design.htm
 |archive-date=26 December 2008
}}</ref>

===Civilian===
The main use of uranium in the civilian sector is to fuel [[nuclear power plant]]s. One kilogram of uranium-235 can theoretically produce about 20&nbsp;[[terajoules]] of energy (2{{e|13}}&nbsp;[[joule]]s), assuming complete fission; as much [[energy]] as 1.5&nbsp;million kilograms (1,500 [[tonne]]s) of [[coal]].{{sfn|Emsley|2001|p=479}}

Commercial nuclear power plants use fuel that is typically enriched to around 3% uranium-235.{{sfn|Emsley|2001|p=479}} The [[CANDU reactor|CANDU]] and [[Magnox]] designs are the only commercial reactors capable of using unenriched uranium fuel. Fuel used for [[United States Navy]] reactors is typically highly enriched in [[uranium-235]] (the exact values are [[classified information|classified]]). In a [[breeder reactor]], uranium-238 can also be converted into plutonium-239 through the following reaction:<ref name="LANL" />

:{{nuclide|link=yes|uranium|238}} + n {{Bigmath|→}} {{nuclide|link=yes|uranium|239}} + γ {{overunderset|{{Bigmath|→}}|β<sup>−</sup>|&nbsp;}} {{nuclide|link=yes|neptunium|239}} {{overunderset|{{Bigmath|→}}|β<sup>−</sup>|&nbsp;}} {{nuclide|link=yes|plutonium|239}}

[[File:U glass with black light.jpg|thumb|right|Uranium glass glowing under [[ultraviolet|UV light]]|alt=A glass place on a glass stand. The plate is glowing green while the stand is colorless.]]
Before (and, occasionally, after) the discovery of radioactivity, uranium was primarily used in small amounts for yellow glass and pottery glazes, such as [[uranium glass]] and in [[Fiesta (dinnerware)|Fiestaware]].<ref>[http://www.hlchina.com/gmastatement.html "Statement regarding the ''Good Morning America'' broadcast," The Homer Laughlin China Co.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120401000958/http://www.hlchina.com/gmastatement.html |date=1 April 2012 }}, 16 March 2011, accessed 25 March 2012.</ref>

The discovery and isolation of [[radium]] in uranium ore (pitchblende) by [[Marie Curie]] sparked the development of uranium mining to extract the radium, which was used to make glow-in-the-dark paints for clock and aircraft dials.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15520902.900-dial-r-for-radioactive.html |title=Dial R for radioactive – 12 July 1997 – New Scientist |publisher=Newscientist.com |access-date=12 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Uranium Mining |url=https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/uranium-mining |website=Atomic Heritage Foundation |access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref> This left a prodigious quantity of uranium as a waste product, since it takes three tonnes of uranium to extract one gram of radium. This waste product was diverted to the glazing industry, making uranium glazes very inexpensive and abundant. Besides the pottery glazes, [[uranium tile]] glazes accounted for the bulk of the use, including common bathroom and kitchen tiles which can be produced in green, yellow, [[mauve]], black, blue, red and other colors.

[[File:Uranium ceramic - Flickr - Sencer Sarı.jpg|thumb|The uranium glaze on a Sencer Sarı ceramic glowing under [[Ultraviolet|UV light]].]]

[[File:Vacuum capacitor with uranium glass.jpg|thumb|Uranium glass used as lead-in seals in a vacuum [[capacitor]]|alt=A glass cylinder capped on both ends with metal electrodes. Inside the glass bulb there is a metal cylinder connected to the electrodes.]]
Uranium was also used in [[photography|photographic]] chemicals (especially [[uranium nitrate]] as a [[Photographic print toning|toner]]),<ref name="LANL" /> in lamp filaments for [[stage lighting]] bulbs,<ref name="epa">{{cite web |title=EPA Facts about Uranium |url=http://www.epa.gov/superfund/health/contaminants/radiation/pdfs/Uranium%20Fact%20Sheet%20final.pdf |access-date=20 September 2014 |publisher=U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |archive-date=29 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129061718/http://www.epa.gov/superfund/health/contaminants/radiation/pdfs/Uranium%20Fact%20Sheet%20final.pdf}}</ref> to improve the appearance of [[dentures]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/consumer/ceramics/uranium-containing-dentures.html |title=Uranium Containing Dentures (ca. 1960s, 1970s) |publisher=[[Oak Ridge Associated Universities]] |website=ORAU Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity |date=1999 |access-date=11 October 2021}}</ref> and in the leather and wood industries for stains and dyes. Uranium salts are [[mordant]]s of silk or wool. [[Uranyl acetate]] and [[uranyl formate]] are used as electron-dense "stains" in [[transmission electron microscopy]], to increase the contrast of biological specimens in ultrathin sections and in [[negative staining]] of [[virus]]es, isolated [[cell organelle]]s and [[macromolecule]]s.

The discovery of the radioactivity of uranium ushered in additional scientific and practical uses of the element. The long [[half-life]] of uranium-238 (4.47{{e|9}} years) makes it well-suited for use in estimating the age of the earliest [[igneous rock]]s and for other types of [[radiometric dating]], including [[uranium–thorium dating]], [[uranium–lead dating]] and [[uranium–uranium dating]]. Uranium metal is used for [[X-ray]] targets in the making of high-energy X-rays.<ref name="LANL" />