What is an illegal amount of uranium?

There is no legal limit on the amount of uranium ore you can own. Once it has been refined, it becomes more problematic. Yellow cake uranium (uranium leachate) is moderately radioactive so should be handled by experts, but there doesn’t seem to be a law against ownership.

What happens if I touch uranium?

Because uranium decays by alpha particles, external exposure to uranium is not as dangerous as exposure to other radioactive elements because the skin will block the alpha particles. Ingestion of high concentrations of uranium, however, can cause severe health effects, such as cancer of the bone or liver.

What kind of radiation does uranium glaze emit?

Although the uranium in the glaze emits gamma rays, alpha particles, and beta particles, the gamma and alpha emissions are weak. The beta particles are the easiest to detect, and they are also responsible for the bulk of the radiation exposure to those handling ceramics that employ a uranium glaze.

Why are uranium glazed tiles so rare?

After EURATOM restrictions about uranium uses in ceramic glazes, there are no factories left working with uranium glazes, which is why uranium glazed tiles have become rare pieces for collectors.

Are ceramics radioactive?

Ceramics can be particularly radioactive if some compound of uranium (e.g., uranium oxide, sodium urinate) has been used to impart color (e.g., orange-red, green, yellow, black) to the glaze.

What is uranium trioxide used for in glass making?

Uranium trioxide is sometimes used as an agent of crystallization in crystalline coloured glazes. One uses it in glassmaking, only or with cadmium sulphide, for the production of glass intensely coloured in yellow and orange. Exemples of recipes for red orange glazes, to be fired at low temperature between cone 08 and cone 06 :