[sd-joe]

As usual the news stories leave out really important details.

The story states: "the 253.6 gram of dense gray metal was 99 per cent uranium by weight".

Later they talk about "weapons-grade" uranium, but they never explicitly say that what was found was "weapons-grade".

Metal that is 99 per cent uranium could be "depleted uranium" for all we know.

[JasonC]

Quite. It was almost certainly not WG uranium, it was probably almost entirely U-238. The story writer probably is confused about chemical vs. isotopic composition. Refining uranium out of ore results in chemically pure uranium metal, perhaps 1% traces of other stuff left as described in the article. But enrichment is separating out the U-235 - barely 1% of natural uranium samples - from the majority of U-238. U-238 is much more stable, with an order of magnitude longer half life (4 billion years).

[Qaz_W]

It was neither 99 per cent uranium nor weapons grade.

Merely a case of over enthusiastic reporting.

The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board ( AERB )tested the material and found it to contain 0.21% U 235.

See this link :

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1229801,000600010004.htm