UPSC Prelims 2023 Question:

Consider the following statements:

Statement-I: India, despite uranium deposits, depends on coal for most of its electricity production.

Statement-II: Uranium, enriched to the extent of at least 60%, is required for the production of electricity.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

Learn more about Uranium as an important Metal.

Explanation:

India is the world’s ninth-largest producer of uranium, with an output of 617 Tonnes in 2022, up by 0.26% in 2021. However, Coal is still the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India. It accounts for 55% of the country's energy needs. So, statement 1 is correct.

Uranium is an element which occurs naturally. It can have nuclear-related uses once it has been refined, or enriched. This is achieved by increasing the content of its most fissile isotopes, U-235, through the use of centrifuges - machines which spin at supersonic speeds.

Low-enriched uranium, which typically has a 3-5% concentration of U-235, can be used to produce fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. So, statement 2 is not correct.

Highly enriched uranium has a purity of 20% or more and is used in research reactors. Weapons-grade uranium is 90% enriched or more.

So, Statement-I is correct but Statement-II is incorrect.

Therefore, option (3) is the correct answer.

Discovery of a New Isotope of Uranium in Japan

Physicists in Japan have recently discovered a new isotope of uranium, with atomic number 92 and mass number 241. This is the first discovery of a neutron-rich uranium isotope since 1979.

The researchers used a process called multinucleon transfer to synthesise the new isotope. In this process, two isotopes collide together, and they exchange protons and neutrons. The resulting nuclear fragments can contain different isotopes.

This discovery is significant because it refines our understanding of nuclear physics and has implications in designing nuclear power plants and models of exploding stars. Measuring the mass of uranium and its neighbourhood elements yields essential nuclear information to understand the synthesis of such heavy elements in explosive astronomical events.

The new approach using multinucleon transfer reaction and KISS is expected to lead to the discovery of more neutron-rich actinide nuclides, elucidating the stability of nuclides and the process of astronomical nucleosynthesis.