Significant facts about Uranium

Discovery of Uranium

Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, who remote an oxide of uranium though analyzing pitchblende samples from the Joachimsal silver mines in the former Kingdom of Bohemia located in the present day Czech Republic.

Discovery of Uranium Fissionability

It took until 1938 to discover that uranium could be rip to release energy, that is fission. This was gifted by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman.

Discovery of Uranium Radioactivity

Henri Antoine Becquerel discovered that uranium was radioactive in 1896.

DUF₆ Cylinder Weight Comparisons

A Ticonderoga-class cruiser is about equal in weight to 706 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF₆). It would take over 70 cruisers to weigh up more than the Nation's inventory of DUF₆! The Navy owns only 27 Ticonderoga-class cruisers. 7,142 cylinders of DUF₆ weighs as much as a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The complete inventory of 57,634 cylinders weighs more than all eight of the Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carriers combined.

DUF₆ Cylinders

Stacking 57,600 standard DUF₆ cylinders end to end would build a tower 720,000 feet tall! That's over 136 miles high.

Energy from Uranium

One ton of natural uranium can manufacture more than 40 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. This is equal to burning 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil.

Isolation of Uranium

Uranium was isolated in 1841 by French chemist Eugène Péligot.

Naming of Uranium

Uranium was named subsequent to the planet Uranus, discovered only eight years earlier in 1791.

Natural Abundance of Uranium

Concentration - uranium ranks 48th among the most abundant elements found in natural crystal rock.