Uranium

Uranium is a metallic element, symbol U atomic number 92, atomic weight 338.07.

A billet of highly enriched uranium recovered from processed scrap 

The 1789 discovery of uranium in the mineral pitchblende is credited to German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth. He found uranium while studying the mineral pitchblende. It was the last natural element to be discovered.

Uranium was named by Klaporth after the newly discovered planet Uranus.

In 184 French chemist Eugène-Melchior Péligot, isolated the first sample of uranium metal by heating uranium tetrachloride with potassium metal. Today better methods have been found.

Uranium is a shiny silvery-grey metal, malleable and ductile, tarnishing in air. However it is usually seen in its oxide form which is black.

It be used as a dye for stained glass or pottery, which is how uranium was used before people found out that it was radioactive.

French physicist Henri Becquerel discovered in 1896 the principle of radioactive decay when he exposed photographic plates to uranium.

The discovery and isolation of radium in uranium ore (pitchblende) by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898 sparked the development of uranium mining to extract the radium, which was used to make luminous paints for watch and clock dials.

Uraninite, also known as pitchblende.  Kgrr at English Wikipedia.

German chemist Otto Hahn discovered in 1938 the nuclear fission of uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.

During World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, population 75,000, used one seventh of all US electricity to process uranium for the atomic bomb.

The USS Indianapolis delivered the enriched uranium and parts for the "Little Boy" atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. No one onboard knew the contents of this cargo, as the mission was classified and the information was kept highly confidential. The uranium was secretly monitored by a radiologist to ensure the safety of the sailors, as exposure to the radioactive material could have resulted in serious health risks.

The USS Indianapolis was later sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Philippine Sea on July 30, 1945, just days after delivering the uranium to the island of Tinian, where the bomb was assembled. 

Alfred Hitchcock came under the surveillance of the CIA for using uranium in the plot of his 1946 movie Notorious.

The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab Kit was the world’s most dangerous toy. It included three sources of radiation and four uranium ores that are also radioactive. The kit, which first went on sale in 1950, came with an instruction booklet and pamphlet on how to prospect uranium.

The nuclear submarine USS Pennsylvania has been in commission since 1989 and has been powered by a single piece of uranium the size of a fist ever since.

The Grand Canyon Museum had three buckets of radioactive uranium ore on display between 2000 and 2018 and only found out when a kid was goofing around with a Geiger counter.

Technological advances have made possible the extraction of uranium from low grade ores, which is fortunate as.there is little high grade ore and much more low grade ore available.

Many countries mine uranium; large deposits are found in Canada, Australia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Namibia.

Kazakhstan produces 41 per cent of the uranium used for nuclear power around the world.

In New Zealand, every high school is entitled to 1 pound of uranium and 1 pound of thorium, for experimentation. However, there is a fine of $1 million for creating nuclear explosions.

Small amounts of uranium compounds are used in the ceramics industry to give yellow glazes, and as a mordant in dyeing.

Uranium glass glowing under UV light. Wikipedia

Uranium is dissolved in seawater at very low concentrations; only about 3 parts per billion. But there is a lot of ocean water and it is estimated the seas potentially hold enough uranium to power the planet for 10,000 years.

The inventor of the Erector Set also released an "Atomic Energy Laboratory" that included real uranium ore. One suggested activity was to play "hide and seek with the gamma ray source" by using the included Geiger counter to find a radioactive sample hidden in a room.