Uranium Ores and Radiation
WHICH URANIUM ORE IS THE BEST SOURCE OF ENERGY?
By William Lamb, Sacha Mama-Kahn, Oliver
Mulvuy, Hunain Nadeem, Ria Pandit
Ore
Torbernite
Torbernite, whose name derives from the Swedish
chemist Torbern Bergman (1735-1784), is a
radioactive, hydrated green copper uranyl phosphate
mineral, found in granites and other uranium-bearing
deposits as a secondary mineral. The ore we used was
found in Musonoi, Katanga, Congo.
Cu (UO2)2(PO4)2
Mr: 730
50
Method
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Weigh ores
Draw up and record into table
Set up apparatus
Take plastic cover off
Measure energy for 120 seconds for the first ore
Record, correcting for background radiation
Repeat for each ore
Repeat the whole experiment and find averages for each ore
Betafite
Betafite is a mineral in the pyrochlore group. Betafite
typically occurs as a primary mineral in granite
pegmatites, rarely in carbonatites. Betafite was
discovered in 1912 at Betafo, Madagascar. The ore
we used was found in Madagascar.
(Ca,U)2(Ti,Nb,Ta)2O6(OH)
Mr: 803.67
30
Graph showing energy emitted
45
20
10
58000
9750
77000
275000
Energy measure 3 (KeV)
58000
12250
74250
230000
Energy measure 4 (KeV)
60500
11250
75500
235000
Energy measure 5 (KeV)
56000
11750
75000
180000
Average (KeV)
Minus background
radiation
Energy/gram (KeV/g)
57900
55855
11200
9155
75350
73305
253000
250955
20763.9405
9438.144
111068.2
107203.4
Pitchblende
Pitchblende is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral
and ore. It has a chemical composition that is largely
UO2, but also contains UO3 and oxides of
lead, thorium, and rare earth elements. The ore we
used was found in Wheal Edward, St Just, Cornwall.
UO2
Mr: 270
60
Graph showing energy emitted
35
15
10
40
30
25
20
15
10
5
Graph showing energy emitted
50
40
Frequency
Frequency
Frequency
50
Graph showing energy emitted
20
30
Energy measure 2 (KeV)
Cuprosklodowskite
Cuprosklodowskite is a secondary uranium mineral
formed by alteration of earlier uranium minerals. It
is grass green to dark green in colour, and its crystal
habit is typically acicular, flat bladed crystals. It is a
strongly radioactive mineral. The ore we used was
found in Musonoi, Katanga, Congo.
Cu(UO2)2(HSiO4)2
Mr: 790
25
40
% Uranium
Mass (g)
Energy measure 1 (KeV)
Betafite (2) Cuprosklodowskite Pitchblende
(3)
(4)
65
59
60
88
2.69
0.97
0.66
2.36
57000
11000
75000
345000
Frequency
Hypothesis
Based on the masses of the ores
and the % of Uranium in the
substances, we hypothesise that the
ore that produces the most energy is
Pitchblende because it contains the
most uranium, and the ore with the
least energy is Betafite.
Torbernite (1)
30
20
10
5
0
0
0
-10
50
100
150
Energy (KeV)
200
250
-5
0
0
0
50
100
150
Energy (KeV)
200
250
-5 0
50
100
150
Energy (KeV)
200
250
-10
0
50
100
150
200
250
Energy (KeV)
Conclusion:
From our results we’ve found that Cuprosklodowskite is the most radioactive ore and therefore the best source of energy. We found that all the ores emitted similar levels of radiation (as seen on the graphs). This is because the ores
were similar in that they all contained the same radioactive element: Uranium. Due to this we weren’t able to work out the most radioactive ore. Therefore we decided to work out radiation levels per gram (KeV/g) in order to get a
more accurate understanding of which ore emitted the most energy. This ore turned out to be Cuprosklodowskite which emitted 111068.2 KeV/g. Our weakest ore in terms of energy was Betafite which only emitted 9438 KeV/g. In
3rd place came Torbernite which emitted 20763.9 KeV/g. Pitchblende came a close 2nd emitting 107203.4 KeV/g. This last result came as a surprise. We hypothesised that Pitchblende would in fact be the most active ore which
turned out not to be true. Our hypothesis was backed up by some results however as Betafite did indeed turn out to be the least active ore.
Evaluation:
Our results for Pitchblende (and our results overall) were surprising. This is due to the figures we calculated for uranium content in each ore. In Pitchblende the overall uranium content was 88% whereas in Cuprosklodowskite this was
60%, also lower than some of the other ores we tested. The fact that Cuproslodowskite turned out to be the most radioactive ore tells us that our Pitchblende ore may have been older than our Cuproslodowskite ore. We may also say
that our Pitchblende ore may not have been as pure as we expected it to be (this may be again because of its age). Looking back on our experiment we could’ve ensured all our ores were of similar mass as we had a range from
0.66 – 2.69 grams. This relatively large range could’ve been a factor in the outcome of our results. We could have also ensured that our ores were of similar age before we started the experiment as some ores may have been older
and therefore contain less radioactive material compared to a newer ore which may have gone through less radioactive decay in its lifetime.
Bibliography
•Wrightsrockshop.com
•Flickr.com
•Tumblr.com
•Wikipedia.com
•Irocks.com