Uses of Uranium

Nuclear Research and Medicine

Radioactive isotopes (radioisotopes) are used in diagnosing and treating certain medical conditions. Radioactive isotopes are used for radioactive therapy (radiotherapy) - treating cancerous tumours. This widely used method works by using gamma rays to break up the genetic material of the cancerous cells and prevent them from growing further. The gamma rays are not selective; they affect both healthy and cancerous cells. Gamma rays are a major cause of cancer.

Patients undergoing radiation treatment are not given information about the risks in a simple to understand and useful way. They are not told what is the probability of radioactive therapy causing cancer compared with its probability of curing their cancer.

Research using nuclear reactors, sources of ionizing radiation and radioactive isotopes is a very small component of the nuclear industry. Very small amounts of uranium are needed for this work.

Radioactive waste from nuclear medicine and nuclear research is stored on site until its radioactivity is sufficiently small for it to be disposed of with other wastes.

Because of radioactive decay, the radioactivity of the nuclear wastes in hospitals, universities, and research laboratories is less than the radioactivity of the original material. The danger of the material therefore decreases with time. If the nuclear waste is considered too dangerous to leave at these sites then the original nuclear material should not have been used there.

Arguments that it is too dangerous to have nuclear wastes stored at hospitals etc. ignore the fact that storage at these sites will be necessary for periods of up to several years irrespective of whether or not there are central storage facilities. The handling and transport involved in using central facilities increases the hazards involved. 

Greater technical detail can be found on this topic by searching through the listed briefing papers and education resources at http://www.ccsa.asn.au/nic/.

In this section - Uses of Uranium

• Is Uranium Needed?
• Nuclear Weapons
• Nuclear Power
• Nuclear Medicine
• Industry
• Smoke Detectors
• Food Irradiation 
• Armour Piercing Weapons