Multiple choice

U-235 is used in nuclear power plants as a fuel but U-238 cannot be used as a fuel because

  1. U-238 is not a naturally occurring isotope of uranium

  2. U-238 does not undergo fission easily enough to be used as a fuel

  3. Uranium-238 does not undergo radioactive decay

  4. There is not enough uranium-238 in naturally occurring uranium to use it as a fuel
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

U-238, is fissionable but not fissile.It undergoes induced fission when impacted by an energetic neutron. But too few of the neutrons produced by U-238 fission are energetic enough to induce further fissions in it, so no chain reaction is possible with this isotope. Instead, bombarding 238U with slow neutrons causes it to absorb them (becoming 239U) .

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