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United Nuclear sells the real stuff like yellowcake for $15/gram [1] so if you've got hydroflouric acid [2], a big gaseous centrifuge, millions of dollars, and

United Nuclear sells the real stuff like yellowcake for $15/gram [1] so if you've got hydroflouric acid [2], a big gaseous centrifuge, millions of dollars, and a death wish, you can make weapons grade uranium too! PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME [1] https://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=105_87&products_id=873 https://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&c... [2] https://www.laballey.com/products/hydrofluoric-acid-electronic-grade-semiconductor-grade-49 https://www.laballey.com/products/hydrofluoric-acid-electron...

foobarian 4y ago
Any idea how it is legal to ship this kinda stuff?
- akiselev 4y ago
  You'd want to ship the yellowcake as HAZMAT Class 7 radioactive and it cannot be shipped outside the United States without an NRC export license (probably continental US only too). The hydrofluoric acid should be shipped as HAZMAT Class 8 corrosive. Edit: If you're asking why it's legal to sell this stuff, naturally occurring uranium is over 99% U238 isotopes. Extracting useful U235 from it requires some really nasty chemistry, insane amounts of electricity, and very specialized hardware like gaseous centrifuges powerful enough to separate isotopes. Buying the thousands of kilograms you'd need to build a bomb would set off a ton of alarm bells all up and down every major government but small samples for educational or novelty purposes aren't a concern.
ISL 4y ago
Please don't fool with HF. I don't know you, reader, but I like you anyway. Bringing uranium into your life almost certainly won't yield the cerebral joy you might imagine. Once you have it, it is a liability and a social responsibility until you can dispose of it safely, probably at substantial cost. If you feel the need to purchase a radioactive source, a sealed source will be much safer and readily transferred/disposed-of. I've worked with HF and spent about a year coordinating the safe cleanup of someone else's uranium oxide. If offered $19 and the choice to buy a gram of yellowcake or a bottle of wine from the grocery store, I'll choose the bottle of wine every time. Seriously; neither one is worth fooling with unless absolutely necessary. (A tungsten cube on the other hand....)

foobarian 4y ago

Any idea how it is legal to ship this kinda stuff?

akiselev 4y ago
You'd want to ship the yellowcake as HAZMAT Class 7 radioactive and it cannot be shipped outside the United States without an NRC export license (probably continental US only too). The hydrofluoric acid should be shipped as HAZMAT Class 8 corrosive. Edit: If you're asking why it's legal to sell this stuff, naturally occurring uranium is over 99% U238 isotopes. Extracting useful U235 from it requires some really nasty chemistry, insane amounts of electricity, and very specialized hardware like gaseous centrifuges powerful enough to separate isotopes. Buying the thousands of kilograms you'd need to build a bomb would set off a ton of alarm bells all up and down every major government but small samples for educational or novelty purposes aren't a concern.

ISL 4y ago

Please don't fool with HF. I don't know you, reader, but I like you anyway. Bringing uranium into your life almost certainly won't yield the cerebral joy you might imagine. Once you have it, it is a liability and a social responsibility until you can dispose of it safely, probably at substantial cost. If you feel the need to purchase a radioactive source, a sealed source will be much safer and readily transferred/disposed-of. I've worked with HF and spent about a year coordinating the safe cleanup of someone else's uranium oxide. If offered $19 and the choice to buy a gram of yellowcake or a bottle of wine from the grocery store, I'll choose the bottle of wine every time. Seriously; neither one is worth fooling with unless absolutely necessary. (A tungsten cube on the other hand....)