Uranium Glass

Glass colored by the addition of uranium (a few percent by weight) is easy to identify: it is typically bright yellowish-green in color and fluoresces spectacularly in ultraviolet light. It is mildly radioactive. Sometimes it is called "vaseline glass" or "canary glass" due to its its color, or "Depression glass," alluding to one historical period when it was quite popular. Collectible uranium glassware can commonly be found as goblets, ashtrays, molded animal figurines, and other creative shapes. EBay is awash with uranium glass marbles and beads, some made within the last few years.

Uranium glass has utilitarian as well as decorative applications. Its coefficient of thermal expansion happens to make it suitable for graded seals and glass-to-metal seals in glass apparatus, such as vacuum tubes and vacuum capacitors. Its fluorescence and light absorption spectra give rise to some scientific uses as well.