Where can a normal everyday civilian buy raw uranium 238? I don't

>>7771737
https://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_8

>>7771742
thanks!

From making bombs alone you can calculate there are enormous amounts of U238 (known as depleted uranium) lying around. And there are no good uses for this really other than for research in fast breeder reactors and ammunition.

I hear it can be used for armor around jet engine turbine section to prevent turbine failure from slicing through the aircraft like knife through hot butter but that is not such a huge demand either.


So if you can find a good use for all this the US is all ears.

>>7771742
wow, I didn't know united nuclear could sell 1 pound chunks of U-238.
It would be pretty cool as a sample if it wasn't so contaminated.
I mean, I like my tungsten, but I want it separated.

>>7771737
Have you tried the Libyans in the mall parking lot?

>>7771763
>I want it separated
Words like separated, enriched, centrifuged etc are sure fire ways of being noticed. By nameless agencies. Even if you are in Tehran.

>>7771752
It has also been used for ballasts and counterweights.

The problem for many applications is that uranium is extremely poisonous. Not merely for radiation-related reasons, but because it's a heavy metal and it'd be extremely toxic even if it was totally stable. And because people are afraid of radiation (and internal radiation exposure is much worse, even if it's alpha), the requirements to prevent it entering the environment are even more strict.

>>7771769

I think that's plutonium you're thinking of ;)

U238 isn't fissile

depleted uranium typically is combined with other things like tungsten and titanium. to get a relatively pure sample of U238 requires some leg work.

>>7771763
I think they're surplus counterweights, for which a tungsten/DU mix would make sense. (It's virtually impossible to work with pure tungsten, so it's essentially always in alloy form with a softer, easier to melt metal - usually copper, but DU would get you much higher density.)

>>7771772
That might be less paranoid than it sounds.

I mean, how many articles per day include the words "isotope separation centrifuge isomer nuclear weapon"?

I guess not many.

In fact, if you chose the right words, you probably have a very short, human-readable list by the end of the day.

Sure, things like news bursts about Iran clog the algorithms but they don't last long and are fairly easy to separate from people discussing breeding reactors and adsorption selectivities of radioactive isotopes.

>>7771763
They were selling larger chunks of high-purity DU a while back; they probably just ran out of that supply.

>>7771783
yeah pure tungsten is a pain in the ass to shape.
Also I would never thing that the two metals could mix well. Turns out I was wrong.

>>7771777
>It has also been used for ballasts and counterweights.
True but again that is rather exotic stuff. I heard that one top level racing yaght had a keel made of depleted uranium. Fighter aircraftys with updated avionics that was far more lightweight had to be fitted with depleted uranium to rebalance the aircraft. Still, this is hardly mass markets.

>>7771785
>I mean, how many articles per day include the words "isotope separation centrifuge isomer nuclear weapon"?
Probably not many. Then again yuou caould say this makes it more managable. After the radioactive boyscout did his stuff the authorities will not want to have eggs on their face again.

>>7771798
They don't. AFAIK, it's more like tungsten powder sintered into a sort of sponge, with the copper filling in the gaps.

>>7771811
ah, thanks for letting me know.
It sounds like we need better ways to work with tungsten.