Nuclear Fuel Facts: Uranium | Department of Energy
Nov 15, 2016 · Nuclear Fuel Facts: Uranium. Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons.
What is Uranium? | IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency
Aug 16, 2023 · Uranium is a vital component for the production of nuclear fuel, which is used in nuclear power reactors all over the world (Image: A. Vargas/IAEA). Uranium is a naturally occurring radioactive element, which has the atomic number of 92 and corresponds to the chemical symbol U in the periodic table.
What is Nuclear Energy? The Science of Nuclear Power
Nov 15, 2022 · Uranium has two primordial isotopes: uranium-238 and uranium-235. Uranium-238 makes up the majority of the uranium in the world but cannot produce a fission chain reaction, while uranium-235 can be used to produce energy by fission but constitutes less than 1 per cent of the world’s uranium.
NUCLEAR 101: How Does a Nuclear Reactor Work?
Aug 2, 2023 · Reactors use uranium for nuclear fuel. The uranium is processed into small ceramic pellets and stacked together into sealed metal tubes called fuel rods. Typically, more than 200 of these rods are bundled together to form a fuel assembly.
Uranium (nuclear) - Energy Kids: U.S. Energy Information ...
Uranium is the fuel most widely used by nuclear plants for nuclear fission. Uranium is considered a nonrenewable energy source, even though it is a common metal found in rocks worldwide. Nuclear power plants use a certain kind of uranium, referred to as U-235, for fuel because its atoms are easily split apart.
Nuclear Energy - National Geographic Society
Oct 19, 2023 · Nuclear Food: Uranium Uranium is the fuel most widely used to produce nuclear energy. That's because uranium atoms split apart relatively easily. Uranium is also a very common element, found in rocks all over the world.
Nuclear explained The nuclear fuel cycle - U.S. Energy ...
The nuclear fuel cycle consists of two phases: the front end and the back end. Front-end steps prepare uranium for use in nuclear reactors. Back-end steps ensure that used—or spent —but still highly radioactive, nuclear fuel is safely managed, prepared, and disposed of. Nuclear power plants primarily use a specific type of uranium (U-235 ...