GS TIMES STAFF
The National Investigation Agency ( NIA) has taken over the uranium seizure case in which the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had seized 7.1kg of natural uranium, approximately valued at Rs 21.3 crore, from two persons.
- A case under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, was filed for possessing uranium without licence and both of them were arrested by the police.
What is Natural Uranium?
- According to the World Nuclear Association, Uranium found in nature consists largely of two isotopes, U-235 and U-238.
- The production of energy in nuclear reactors is from the ‘fission’ or splitting of the U-235 atoms, a process which releases energy in the form of heat. U-235 is the main fissile isotope of uranium.
- Natural uranium contains 0.7 per cent of the U-235 isotope and the remaining 99.3 per cent is mostly the U-238 isotope.
- The U-238 does not contribute directly to the fission process (though it does so indirectly by the formation of fissile isotopes of plutonium).
- Kazakhstan produces the largest share of uranium from mines, followed by Canada and Australia.
