20 or so pounds would be nice. A few extra should help in covering any margin of error.
So, are there any, ya know, laws against this? Can I buy Uranium? If so, where? What kind? In what ammounts? What is I just so happen to find a massive deposit of Uranium located completely in my backyard (that has not killed me)? Do I get to keep it? Will the man try to swoop down and start jones’in on my stash?
Fer that matter, how about plutonium?
Sale of radioactive materials, like other explosives, is heavily regulated. You have to have a license to buy, sell, and transport it. All sales and their quantities are reported to the government. There are only a few authorized purveyors of radioactives, so it’s not like you go down to the Home Depot and pick up some.
Please tell me your question has nothing to do with this thread about Armageddon.
You have to have a license of some kind from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to possess plutonium.
http://www.osti.gov/html/osti/opennet/document/pu50yrs/pu50ya.html
You may browse at your leisure.
Dunno about plain uranium. But, golly, doncha just love the Internet? 
I knew we should be keeping a close eye on these filthy Fremen. . . Alert the Baron at once!
Uranium is easy. Try the Alfa Catalog.
I think that you mean enriched (as opposed to refined) uranium. The average Joe is going to have a really tough time making any sort of weapon out of naturally occurring uranium (fissile content of 0.7110%).
Of course I wouldn’t recommend getting this stuff since it is radioactive and, while it probably wouldn’t kill or injure you unless you did something stupid (don’t lick off the oxide!), if the word got around your neighbors would probably be a wee bit concerned.
If you want anything useful for bombs and such you start running in to the items Duck Duck Goose cited.
Plutonium does not occur naturally on Earth. It has to be manufactured in a nuclear reactor - called a plutonium breeder. It’s also a byproduct of nuclear power plants, I think.
ISTR a story one of my physics professors told me… He said they used to have a very hard time finding strong radiation sources because of government restrictions. But, being the resourceful types, they knew that a certain color glaze used on old dinner plates contained a significant amount of uranium, and so they bought a few from the local thrift store. Apparently the plates were better radiation sources than anything they could buy through scientific supply houses…
Of course, getting 20 pounds worth would likely proven pretty difficult.
Orange Fiesta Ware, I presume. I don’t know how those things register on a Geiger counter, though. Can’t verify that part of the story.
And yes, you’d be hard-pressed to find 20 pounds of vintage Fiesta Ware glaze–the plates are highly treasured by collectors.
Red, actually. It’s known to Fiesta collectors as “Radioactive Red.” The glaze is not dangerous, I eat off my red Fiesta plates all the time.
I disagree with crc’s assertion that it is hard to make a weapon out of un-enriched uranium. Sure, it’s hard to make a bomb, but there are other ways of using radioactive materials as a weapon. Radioactive salting, for example. For example, you could dump uranium powder into the air intake of an office building and it would be uninhabitable for years.
Maud’ Dib, you wish to violate the Great Convention?
Dude, the Feds are all over this thread. I can feel it.
They can take away my red Fiestaware when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
If you wanna buy plutonium, you can acquire it from Libyan terrorists. Tell them that if they give you the plutonium, you’ll help them build a bomb, but instead of building a bomb for them, give them a casing full of used pinball machine parts. Just be sure to wear a bulletproof vest to be ready when they come after you.
Is your name Doc Brown?
Activate shields! Wind up the orthodontothopters!
Kewl.
http://www.duke.edu/~tbw1/adventures/fiesta/fiesta.html
On my monitor, it looks like a Crayola Red-Orange. Pic at this website.
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles/article063.shtml
This website says they stopped using uranium glazes on Fiesta Red in the 1950s.
http://www.beloitdailynews.com/697/2hor24.htm
And they are no longer offering Fiesta Red, period. It was discontinued in 1972.
http://www.fiestawaredinnerware.com/fiestacolor.html
http://www.peekaboo.net/archives/cat7/52.html
There is evidently one study that “seems to suggest” that vintage Fiesta Red may emit radon.
**
[/QUOTE]
Trust me, it is quite brilliant red, not very orangey at all. Some mineral colors, particularly saturated reds and some purples, just can’t be photographed accurately.
As far as leaching, I wouldn’t store grapefruit juice in my red Fiesta pitcher, but it’s plenty safe to eat off of. But then, I do try to avoid scraping up the glaze on these plates anyway.
Ok, now all of this info about Fiestaware is great.
Really, it is.
But let’s get back to getting me my Uranium!
What about the backyard hypothesis?
What the hell do you want 20 pounds of uranium for?
Required scare:
If you do go through with this, I hope you take proper storage into consideration. It’s not like you can put it in a cardboard box.
Radiation, especially gamma rays, is extremely dangerous. In fact, the radiation will make other things radioactive. Say you keep it in your basement, in the aforementioned box. Any metal will be affected significantly. The walls will likely be affected. The radiation will easily penetrate the ceiling into the rest of the house. Also, 20 pounds of uranium will emit a hell of a lot of gamma rays, with a half-life of around 4000 years. It’s going to stay radioactive for a very long time. Plus, it’s toxic all by itself, not even taking into effect the radiation. Are you sure you want this hazard in the same location you live in?