યુરેનિયમ: આવૃત્તિઓ વચ્ચેનો તફાવત

પ્રકૃતિમાં જે યુરેનિયમ મળી આવે છે તેમાં યુરેનિયમ-૨૩૮ (૯૯.૨૭૪૨%), યુરેનિયમ-૨૩૫ (૦.૭૨૦૪%) અને અતિ અલ્પ પ્રમાણમાં યુરેનિયમ-૨૩૪(૦.૦૦૫૪%) હોય છે. આલ્ફા કણોનું ઉત્સર્જન કરીને યુરેનિયમ ખંડિત થાય છે. યુરેનિયમ-૨૩૮નો અર્ધ આયુષ્ય કાળ ૪૪૭ કરોડ વર્ષ અને યુરેનિયમ-૨૩૮નો અર્ધ આયુષ્યકાળ ૭૦.૪૦ કરોડ વર્ષ છે,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ie.lbl.gov/toi/nucSearch.asp |title=WWW Table of Radioactive Isotopes}}</ref> આને કારણે તેનો ઉપયોગ પૃથ્વીની ઉંમર સાથેની સરખામણી થાય છે.

 

 

Uranium is used as a colorant in [[uranium glass]], producing orange-red to lemon yellow hues. It was also used for tinting and shading in early [[photography]]. The 1789 [[discovery of the chemical elements|discovery]] of uranium in the mineral [[uraninite|pitchblende]] is credited to [[Martin Heinrich Klaproth]], who named the new element after the planet [[Uranus]]. [[Eugène-Melchior Péligot]] was the first person to isolate the metal and its radioactive properties were discovered in 1896 by [[Antoine Becquerel]]. Research by [[Enrico Fermi]] and others starting in 1934 led to its use as a fuel in the nuclear power industry and in ''[[Little Boy]]'', the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|first nuclear weapon used in war]]. An ensuing [[arms race]] during the [[Cold War]] between the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]] produced tens of thousands of nuclear weapons that used uranium metal and uranium-derived [[plutonium-239]]. The security of those weapons and their fissile material following the [[Collapse of the Soviet Union (1985–1991)#Dissolution of the USSR|breakup of the Soviet Union]] in 1991 is an ongoing concern for public health and safety.<ref>[http://en.rian.ru/world/20100218/157925732.html "U.S. to pump money into nuke stockpile, increase security,"] ''RIA Novosti'' February 18, 2010</ref> See [[Nuclear proliferation]].