Q1: Is uranium rare compared to other industrial metals?
Natural uranium is relatively abundant throughout the Earth's crust, occurring at roughly 2.8 parts per million. That makes it more common than silver or gold and nearly as common as tin. The difficulty lies not in finding traces of it, but in locating high-grade uranium mining reserves that justify the steep capital and regulatory costs required to build a mine.
Q2: Why can't power plants use natural uranium straight from the ground?
Most commercial reactors use ordinary water as both a neutron moderator and a coolant. Light water absorbs a portion of passing neutrons, preventing a sustained reaction unless the fuel contains a higher proportion of fissile atoms. Natural ore holds just 0.72% U-235, so enrichment must raise that concentration to roughly 3%, 5% to maintain steady operations.
Q3: How dangerous is unrefined uranium to hold?
Raw uranium and dried yellowcake pose little external radiological danger because alpha radiation cannot penetrate the dead outer layer of human skin. A sheet of paper stops alpha particles entirely. The real hazard is chemical. Swallowing or inhaling uranium dust exposes sensitive internal organs to severe heavy metal toxicity, producing kidney damage similar to that caused by lead poisoning.
