Oh for f**ks sake, it was a joke meant to imply that the truck was so radioactive that it set things on fire. I swear, some people need a map to spot humour.
Over the years, the Department of Energy has received numerous inquiries from the public and particularly from school-aged children, who were interested in understanding more about the Department's inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride and ultimately, how the Government is going to address the disposition of this legacy material. The Department put together the following "fun facts," as a means of putting into perspective the characteristics of this material, in terms recognizable from everyday life. It is our hope that you will find these "fun facts," interesting and thought-provoking, in terms of understanding the challenge before the Department in managing this material and providing for its ultimate conversion and disposition.Discovery of UraniumUranium was discovered in 1798 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, who isolated an oxide of uranium while analyzing pitchblende samples from the Joachimsal silver mines in the former Kingdom of Bohemia located in the present day Czech Republic.Discovery of Uranium FissionabilityIt took until 1938 to discover that uranium could be split to release energy, that is fission. This was accomplished by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman.Discovery of Uranium RadioactivityHenri Antoine Becquerel discovered that uranium was radioactive in 1896.DUF6 Cylinder Weight ComparisonsA Ticonderoga-class cruiser is about equal in weight to 706 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6). It would take over 70 cruisers to weigh more than the Nation's inventory of DUF6! The Navy owns only 27 Ticonderoga-class cruisers.DUF6 Cylinder Weight Comparisons7,142 cylinders of DUF6 weighs as much as a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The entire inventory of 57,634 cylinders weighs more than all eight of the Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carriers combined!DUF6 CylindersStacking 57,600 standard DUF6 cylinders end to end would make a tower 720,000 feet tall! That's over 136 miles high!Energy from UraniumOne ton of natural uranium can produce more than 40 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. This is equivalent to burning 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil.Isolation of UraniumUranium was isolated in 1841 by French chemist Eug�ne P�ligot.Naming of UraniumUranium was named after the planet Uranus, discovered only eight years earlier in 1791.Natural Abundance of UraniumConcentration - uranium ranks 48th among the most abundant elements found in natural crustal rock.Nuclear Power and Carbon EmissionsNuclear power plants helped avoid 90 percent of all carbon emissions averted in the U.S. energy sector between 1981 and 1994.One Pound of UraniumOne pound of uranium will make a ball only 1.3 inches in diameter. Make an "OK" sign with your forefinger and thumb to see how big that ball would be.Price of UraniumThe price of uranium was approximately $8.75 per pound at end of 1998.U.S. Nuclear Power PlantsThere are currently 105 operating U.S. nuclear power plants that produce over 20 percent of U.S. electricity.Uranium AbundanceUranium is 40 times more naturally abundant than silver.Uranium BaseballA major league baseball weighs about 5.25 ounces. A uranium baseball would weigh over 8.5 pounds!Uranium Burning PointFinely divided uranium burns readily in air at 150 to 175 degrees Celsius (300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit).Uranium DensityUranium is very dense. At about 19 grams per cubic centimeter, it is 1.6 times more dense than lead. Density increases weight. For example, while a gallon of milk weighs about 8 pounds, a gallon container of uranium would weigh about 150 pounds.Uranium GlassUranium has been used to color glass for almost 2 millennia. A uranium-colored glass object was found near Naples, Italy, and dated to about 79 A.D. Uranium oxide added to glass produces a yellow to greenish hue.Uranium Isotope ProportionsNaturally occurring uranium is 99.2745 percent uranium-238, with uranium-235 (the energy producing isotope) making up about 0.720 percent, and uranium-234 filling in the remainder at less than 0.0055 percent.Uranium Melting PointUranium boils at about 3,818 degrees Celsius (about 6,904 degrees Fahrenheit).Uranium NucleusA uranium-238 atom has 92 protons and 146 neutrons in its nucleus.Volume of DOE DUF6 InventoryIf converted to uranium metal, all of the uranium in the Nation's DUF6 inventory would cover a football field to a depth of about 15 feet. It would take water almost 290 feet high on the same field to weigh as much!Volume of DOE DUF6 InventoryThe uranium in the Department's inventory of DUF6, if converted to metal, would make a cube about 30 meters (about 95 feet) on each side.Weight of DOE DUF6 InventoryThe 704,000 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride in the Department's inventory is over 1.5 BILLION pounds! For comparison, the Great Pyramid of Egypt weighs more than 10 billion pounds.Weight of DOE DUF6 InventoryThe 704,000 metric tons of DUF6 contains about 476,000 metric tons of uranium and 228,000 metric tons of fluorine. In English, that means over 1 Billion pounds of uranium and over 500 million pounds of fluorine!Weight of UraniumA gallon of milk weighs about 8 lbs. A chunk of uranium metal the size of a gallon milk jug weighs over 150 lbs!World Uranium ProductionWorld uranium production in 1996 was 35,199 metric tons or 78.8 million pounds.Worldwide Nuclear Power ProductionWorldwide, there are about 442 nuclear power plants that supply about 23 percent of the world's electricity.
rohckyAug 29, 2007
It's an Audi, that's what happened to it.
litespeedAug 29, 2007
Oh for f**ks sake, it was a joke meant to imply that the truck was so radioactive that it set things on fire. I swear, some people need a map to spot humour.
gyrfalconAug 29, 2007
Over the years, the Department of Energy has received numerous inquiries from the public and particularly from school-aged children, who were interested in understanding more about the Department's inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride and ultimately, how the Government is going to address the disposition of this legacy material. The Department put together the following "fun facts," as a means of putting into perspective the characteristics of this material, in terms recognizable from everyday life. It is our hope that you will find these "fun facts," interesting and thought-provoking, in terms of understanding the challenge before the Department in managing this material and providing for its ultimate conversion and disposition.Discovery of UraniumUranium was discovered in 1798 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, who isolated an oxide of uranium while analyzing pitchblende samples from the Joachimsal silver mines in the former Kingdom of Bohemia located in the present day Czech Republic.Discovery of Uranium FissionabilityIt took until 1938 to discover that uranium could be split to release energy, that is fission. This was accomplished by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman.Discovery of Uranium RadioactivityHenri Antoine Becquerel discovered that uranium was radioactive in 1896.DUF6 Cylinder Weight ComparisonsA Ticonderoga-class cruiser is about equal in weight to 706 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6). It would take over 70 cruisers to weigh more than the Nation's inventory of DUF6! The Navy owns only 27 Ticonderoga-class cruisers.DUF6 Cylinder Weight Comparisons7,142 cylinders of DUF6 weighs as much as a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The entire inventory of 57,634 cylinders weighs more than all eight of the Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carriers combined!DUF6 CylindersStacking 57,600 standard DUF6 cylinders end to end would make a tower 720,000 feet tall! That's over 136 miles high!Energy from UraniumOne ton of natural uranium can produce more than 40 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. This is equivalent to burning 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil.Isolation of UraniumUranium was isolated in 1841 by French chemist Eug�ne P�ligot.Naming of UraniumUranium was named after the planet Uranus, discovered only eight years earlier in 1791.Natural Abundance of UraniumConcentration - uranium ranks 48th among the most abundant elements found in natural crustal rock.Nuclear Power and Carbon EmissionsNuclear power plants helped avoid 90 percent of all carbon emissions averted in the U.S. energy sector between 1981 and 1994.One Pound of UraniumOne pound of uranium will make a ball only 1.3 inches in diameter. Make an "OK" sign with your forefinger and thumb to see how big that ball would be.Price of UraniumThe price of uranium was approximately $8.75 per pound at end of 1998.U.S. Nuclear Power PlantsThere are currently 105 operating U.S. nuclear power plants that produce over 20 percent of U.S. electricity.Uranium AbundanceUranium is 40 times more naturally abundant than silver.Uranium BaseballA major league baseball weighs about 5.25 ounces. A uranium baseball would weigh over 8.5 pounds!Uranium Burning PointFinely divided uranium burns readily in air at 150 to 175 degrees Celsius (300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit).Uranium DensityUranium is very dense. At about 19 grams per cubic centimeter, it is 1.6 times more dense than lead. Density increases weight. For example, while a gallon of milk weighs about 8 pounds, a gallon container of uranium would weigh about 150 pounds.Uranium GlassUranium has been used to color glass for almost 2 millennia. A uranium-colored glass object was found near Naples, Italy, and dated to about 79 A.D. Uranium oxide added to glass produces a yellow to greenish hue.Uranium Isotope ProportionsNaturally occurring uranium is 99.2745 percent uranium-238, with uranium-235 (the energy producing isotope) making up about 0.720 percent, and uranium-234 filling in the remainder at less than 0.0055 percent.Uranium Melting PointUranium boils at about 3,818 degrees Celsius (about 6,904 degrees Fahrenheit).Uranium NucleusA uranium-238 atom has 92 protons and 146 neutrons in its nucleus.Volume of DOE DUF6 InventoryIf converted to uranium metal, all of the uranium in the Nation's DUF6 inventory would cover a football field to a depth of about 15 feet. It would take water almost 290 feet high on the same field to weigh as much!Volume of DOE DUF6 InventoryThe uranium in the Department's inventory of DUF6, if converted to metal, would make a cube about 30 meters (about 95 feet) on each side.Weight of DOE DUF6 InventoryThe 704,000 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride in the Department's inventory is over 1.5 BILLION pounds! For comparison, the Great Pyramid of Egypt weighs more than 10 billion pounds.Weight of DOE DUF6 InventoryThe 704,000 metric tons of DUF6 contains about 476,000 metric tons of uranium and 228,000 metric tons of fluorine. In English, that means over 1 Billion pounds of uranium and over 500 million pounds of fluorine!Weight of UraniumA gallon of milk weighs about 8 lbs. A chunk of uranium metal the size of a gallon milk jug weighs over 150 lbs!World Uranium ProductionWorld uranium production in 1996 was 35,199 metric tons or 78.8 million pounds.Worldwide Nuclear Power ProductionWorldwide, there are about 442 nuclear power plants that supply about 23 percent of the world's electricity.
dustmuffinsAug 30, 2007
Radioactive toy from Porcupine Tree...