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Natural uranium is 99.284% 238U isotope, with 235 U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight.235 U is the only nuclide existing in nature (in any appreciable amount) that is fissile with thermal neutrons. Enriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons.The International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to monitor and control enriched uranium supplies and processes in its efforts to ensure nuclear power generation safety and curb nuclear weapons proliferation.ost nuclear reactors require enriched uranium which is uranium with higher concentrations of U-235 ranging between 3.5% and 4.5%. There are two commercial enrichment processes: gaseous diffusion and gas centrifugation.
When uranium is mined, it consists of approximately 99.3% uranium-238 (U238), 0.7% uranium-235 (U235), and < 0.01% uranium-234 (U234). These are the different uranium isotopes. Isotopes of uranium contain 92 protons in the atom's center or nucleus.