Uranium

Nottingham was made a UNESCO City of Literature in 2015 and is part of a global network of 20 cities who specialise in literature.

Nottingham has a strong literary past, which includes the writers DH Lawrence and Alan Sillitoe, and the romantic poet Lord Byron.

Set up in 1945, UNESCO stands for the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It encourages people to work together not just economically or politically, but on scientific, creative and cultural levels.

Uranium was discovered in 1789 by German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth.

It is the heaviest naturally occurring element in the universe and is naturally radioactive. Its nucleus is unstable, so the element is in a constant state of decay, seeking a more stable arrangement.

Uranium is a very important element because it provides us with nuclear fuel used to generate electricity in nuclear power stations.

The first atomic bomb used in World War II and dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, contained a uranium core.