The History of Nuclear Materials

By: Mackenzie Reichert

Nuclear material is defined by Title I of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as plutonium, uranium-233, or uranium enriched in the isotopes uranium-233 or

uranium-235.

What is Nuclear Material???

Radioactive material containing plutonium (but not exceeding 80 percent of plutonium 238), or uranium

233 or 235.

• The discovery of the element is credited to the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth. While he was working in his experimental laboratory in Berlin in 1789.

URANIUM

Uranium Facts

• Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element with symbol U and atomic number 92.

• A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons.

• In the early twentieth century, Glenn Seaborg converted uranium-238 into plutonium.

• Enrico Fermi and a team of scientists at the University of Rome reported that they had discovered element 94 in 1934.

PLUTONIUM

Plutonium Facts

• Plutonium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Pu and atomic number 94.

• The original sample was a mixture of barium, krypton, and other elements, but this was not known at the time because nuclear fission had not been discovered yet.

• Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90.

THORIUM

Thorium Facts

• Morten Thrane Esmark found a black mineral on in Norway.

• Thorium was first observed to be radioactive in 1898, independently, by the Polish-French physicist Marie Curie and the German chemist Gerhard Carl Schmidt.

URANIUM

PLUTONIUM

Controversy in the US

• In today’s world many controversy goes on about Nuclear Materials not being protected. As stated in a news conference, “The international nuclear security framework remains weak and uneven.“ Many people in the US believe that there should be security on these Nuclear Materials others do not.

• Security on Nuclear Materials would help prevent terrorist attacks.

• People who disagree believe it will be too difficult for security to be intact.

Sources

• http://www.nti.org/about/projects/nti-index/• https://www.nrc.gov/materials.html• http://www.nationaljournal.com/global-

security-newswire/officials-eye-new-nuclear-security-gains-beyond-next-week-s-summit-20140318