Density of uranium: why nuclear is so powerful

Uranium pellets are usually the fuel used in nuclear power plants, and just like gummy bears, they’re super dense.

This basically means they’re small but have a lot of energy inside. In fact, uranium is so dense that it has the highest energy density of any fuel (step aside coal and gas).

Ok, but how dense is DENSE?

One uranium pellet, ✨roughly the size of a gummy bear✨, has as much energy as 149 gallons of oil, 2,000 pounds of coal or 12,000 big macs 🍔.

In other words, the density of uranium is literally 80 million times greater than that of coal and about 40% higher than that of natural gas. This means that it takes a much smaller amount of uranium to produce the same amount of energy as these other sources.

What does this mean for the environment?

With one of these tiny pellets, we can power a house in the U.S. for about 2.5 months! (Unless you’re being a total idiot and leaving all your lights on, while binge watching Netflix, blow drying your hair and using a blender). This means that we can create an insane amount of energy in smaller spaces, which requires much less land (as opposed to wind and solar) and fewer raw materials. This is great news for the environment!

I’m sure you want to know about the waste, right?

The good news is, since uranium pellets are so small, the waste it creates is tiny. In fact, all of the nuclear waste created in the United States since the beginning of time would fit inside a Walmart.

You heard that right. It’s so small that if I were to get all of my life’s energy from nuclear, my “waste" would fit inside of a soda can.

But don’t drink soda. Sugar is really bad for you.

Don’t stop there. Check out this video to learn more about the density of uranium.