FWIW, and somewhat late in the day, I admit, but, uranium in its...

FWIW, and somewhat late in the day, I admit, but, uranium in its natural state isn't particularly radioactive. U238 is its most common isotope. U235, the more radioactive one, used in enriched and weapons-grade uranium, accounts for only c.0.7% of natural U ore. But even U235 isn't terribly dangerous from a radiation standpoint. One would have to stand in close proximity to a very large quantity of pure uranium to receive a dose of radiation more notable than the typical background radiation we receive in our daily lives in Australia (1.5mSv p.a., on average). U's half-life is in the billions of years, tantamount to saying it's not v highly radioactive, as against elements having v brief half-lives; sometimes in the order of seconds only. These are highly radioactive.