Wednesday Words

Uranium | most common fuel used to create nuclear energy. Uranium is a naturally occurring element having 92 protons



U-238 has 146 neutrons, is mildly radioactive and forms approximately 99.3 per cent of all uranium

U-235 has 143 neutrons, is less stable and forms approximately 0.7 per cent of all uranium

Enriched uranium is uranium in which the U-235 content has been increased to approximately 3.5 per cent

Uranium dioxide (UO2) is processed to form ceramic pellets that are loaded into rods which are used to fuel nuclear reactors