I'm a Scientist

Uranium was discovered in 1789 and was named after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered eight years before. It is found everywhere on Earth, but mostly in very small quantities. Uranium is a naturally radioactive element, and was used to create the first nuclear weapon used in World War II. This bomb was called ‘Little Boy’, and was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945. Today, nuclear bombs are made from other materials like plutonium.

Uranium is mostly used today in the nuclear power industry to generate electricity. It can produce a huge amount of energy – 1kg of uranium can produce as much energy as 1,500 tonnes of coal!