Enriched uranium has a higher concentration of U235, useful for nuclear reactors and weapons. Enrichment levels vary for different uses, with highly enriched uranium (HEU) containing 80% U235 and being highly regulated to prevent misuse.
Enriched uranium has had the concentration of a particular isotope, uranium 235 or U235, increased from natural levels. Uranium has at least three isotopes in nature, and U235 is particularly useful as a fuel for nuclear reactors and as a basis for nuclear weapons. Uranium is naturally composed of a very large percentage of U238 and a very small percentage of other isotopes, U235 being the second most common, about 0.7%. By separating the isotopes, it is possible to create samples of enriched uranium with a higher concentration of U235 isotopes.
Uranium can be enriched in various ways and to varying degrees depending on its intended use. U235 is important for nuclear reactor fuel and nuclear weapons because of its ability to undergo fission or splitting. Each atom of U235 that is split releases a huge amount of energy, as well as a high-energy atomic particle called a neutron. The neutron then hits another U235 atom, causing it to split, setting off a chain reaction. When the reaction is slow and controlled, it can be harnessed as in the case of a nuclear reactor. When the reaction is violent and uncontrolled, the result is a nuclear explosion, the process that underpinned the bombs the United States dropped on Japan at the end of World War II.
Depending on the intended use, enriched uranium is produced with varying concentrations of U235 atoms. The lowest grade is known as slightly enriched uranium (SEU) and has a concentration of up to about 2% U235. The next grade is known as low enriched uranium (LEU) and usually has a concentration of about 3% or 4% U235, which is the highest standard concentration for reactor fuel, although it can be as high as 20%. %.
Highly enriched uranium (HEU), also known as weapons-grade uranium, is uranium that has a concentration of approximately 80% U235. Uranium enriched to this level is used in the manufacture of the weapons that make up the nuclear arsenals of many countries, although enrichment levels as high as 20% are sufficient to produce the simplest nuclear weapons. This grade of enriched uranium is highly controlled and regulated by national and international governments and regulatory agencies in order to promote its safe use and prevent the creation of nuclear weapons by entities that world civilizations as a whole deem potentially dangerous or irresponsible.
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