Uranium enrichment

• According to one of the confidential quarterly reports to member states, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, closer to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, continued to increase albeit at a slower pace, despite some of it having been diluted.
• Natural uranium consists of two different isotopes – nearly 99% U-238 and only around 0.7% of U-235.
  • U-235 is a fissile material that can sustain a chain reaction in a nuclear reactor.
• Enrichment process increases the proportion of U-235 through the process of isotope separation (U-238 is separated from U-235).

USE OF ENRICHED URANIUM

• For nuclear reactors, enrichment is required upto 3-4% which is known as Low Enriched Uranium/reactor-grade uranium.
• Highly enriched uranium has a purity of 20% or more and is used in research reactors.
• For nuclear weapons, enrichment is required upto 90% or more which is known as weapons-grade uranium.