"Ours is a world filled with nuclear giants. We know more about war than we know about peace. more about killing than we know about living " There are many methods of detection/assessment that need to occur regarding each process of enrichment to ensure that the Uranium is not falling into the wrong hands.
|
Nuclear Power or Nuclear Weapons
When Uranium is dug up out of the ground in its natural form,
99.3% of it is U-238 0.7% of it is U-235 To make nuclear weapons, more U-235 is required than U-238. This is because the U-235 is much more explosive. It will absorb neutrons and can blow apart releasing energy, which in turn can be very harmful towards people. This can also be used for creating nuclear energy. To generate power the Uranium must be enriched to 5% and to create nuclear bombs it must be enriched to 90%. |
International agencies need to try and find out if a country is enriching Uranium to make fuel for nuclear power or to make bombs and weapons. This depends on the amount of U-235 compared to the amount of U-238. People might be creating nuclear weapons if there is a greater amount of U-235 present. This is because all the energy will be released at once from a small mass. If they are trying to create nuclear power, they would want the energy to come out at a more steady rate over a year, so they can generate electricity. For this they will need a greater quantity of the U-238 and a smaller amount of the U-235. Only experts will be able to find out if the Uranium is being enriched to make fuel or to make weapons.
|
A method of detection used for the centrifuge process of enriching Uranium is explained through this video. The heavier U-238 is discarded and the lighter U-235 is re-injected into the next centrifuge. Many centrifuges are needed to obtain a significant amount of usable U-235. Through this process, experts can identify if more U-235 is being produced than U-238. By using this method of detection, it can be investigated if the Uranium is being used for nuclear energy or nuclear bombs.