Enriched uranium is a kind of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Natural uranium is 99.284% ²³⁸U isotope, with ²³⁵U only constituting about 0.711% of its weight. ²³⁵U is the only nuclide existing in nature (in any appreciable amount) that is fissile with thermal neutrons.

Enriched uranium is a critical component for both civil nuclear power generation and military nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to monitor and control enriched uranium supplies and processes in its efforts to ensure nuclear power generation safety and curb nuclear weapons proliferation.

During the Manhattan Project enriched uranium was given the codename oralloy, a shortened version of Oak Ridge alloy, after the location of the plants where the uranium was enriched. The term oralloy is still occasionally used to refer to enriched uranium. There are about 2,000 tonnes (t, Mg) of highly enriched uranium in the world, produced mostly for nuclear weapons, naval propulsion, and smaller quantities for research reactors.

The ²³⁸U remaining after enrichment is known as depleted uranium (DU), and is considerably less radioactive than even natural uranium, though still very dense and extremely hazardous in granulated form—such granules are a natural by-product of the shearing action that makes it useful for armour-penetrating weapons, and radiation shielding. At present, 95% of the world's stocks of depleted uranium remain in secure storage.

Grades

Slightly enriched uranium (SEU)

''Slightly enriched uranium'' (SEU) has a ²³⁵U concentration of 0.9% to 2%. This new grade is being used to replace natural uranium (NU) fuel in some heavy water reactors like the CANDU. Costs are lowered because less uranium and fewer bundles are needed to fuel the reactor. This in turn reduces the quantity of used fuel and its subsequent waste management costs.

Reprocessed uranium

''Reprocessed uranium'' (RpU or RU) is a product of nuclear fuel cycles involving nuclear reprocessing of spent fuel. RpU recovered from light water reactor (LWR) spent fuel typically contains slightly more U-235 than natural uranium, and therefore could be used to fuel reactors that customarily use natural uranium as fuel. It also contains the undesirable isotope uranium-236 which undergoes neutron capture, wasting neutrons (and requiring higher U-235 enrichment) and creating neptunium-237 which would be one of the more mobile and troublesome radionuclides in deep geological repository disposal of nuclear waste.

Low-enriched uranium (LEU)

''Low-enriched uranium'' (LEU) has a lower than 20% concentration of ²³⁵U. For use in commercial light water reactors (LWR), the most prevalent power reactors in the world, uranium is enriched to 3 to 5% ²³⁵U. Fresh LEU used in research reactors is usually enriched 12% to 19.75% U-235, the latter concentration being used to replace HEU fuels when converting to LEU.

Highly enriched uranium (HEU)

Highly enriched uranium (HEU) has a greater than 20% concentration of ²³⁵U or ²³³U. The fissile uranium in nuclear weapons usually contains 85% or more of ²³⁵U known as weapon(s)-grade, though for a crude, inefficient weapon 20% is sufficient (called weapon(s)-usable); some argue that even less is sufficient, but then the critical mass for unmoderated fast neutrons rapidly increases, approaching infinity at 6%²³⁵U. For criticality experiments, enrichment of uranium to over 97% has been accomplished.

The very first uranium bomb, Little Boy in 1945, used 64 kilograms of 80% enriched uranium. Wrapping the weapon's fissile core in a neutron reflector (which is standard on all nuclear explosives) can dramatically reduce the critical mass. Because the core was surrounded by a good neutron reflector, at explosion it comprised almost 2.5 critical masses. Neutron reflectors and compressing the fissile core via implosion allow nuclear weapon designs that use less than what would be one bare-sphere critical mass at normal density. The presence of too much of the ²³⁸U isotope inhibits the runaway nuclear chain reaction that is responsible for the weapon's power. The critical mass for 85% highly enriched uranium is about , which at normal density would be a sphere about in diameter.

Later US nuclear weapons usually use plutonium-239 in the primary stage, but the secondary stage which is compressed by the primary nuclear explosion often uses HEU with enrichment between 40% and 80% along with the fusion fuel lithium deuteride. For the secondary of a large nuclear weapon, the higher critical mass of less-enriched uranium can be an advantage as it allows the core at explosion time to contain a larger amount of fuel. The ²³⁸U is not fissile but still fissionable by fusion neutrons.

HEU is also used in fast neutron reactors, whose cores require about 20% or more of fissile material, as well as in naval reactors, where it often contains at least 50% ²³⁵U, but typically does not exceed 90%. The Fermi-1 commercial fast reactor prototype used HEU with 26.5% ²³⁵U. Significant quantities of HEU are used in the production of medical isotopes, for example molybdenum-99 for technetium-99m generators.

Enrichment methods

Isotope separation is difficult because two isotopes of the same elements have very nearly identical chemical properties, and can only be separated gradually using small mass differences. (²³⁵U is only 1.26% lighter than ²³⁸U.) This problem is compounded by the fact that uranium is rarely separated in its atomic form, but instead as a compound (²³⁵UF₆ is only 0.852% lighter than ²³⁸UF₆.) A cascade of identical stages produces successively higher concentrations of ²³⁵U. Each stage passes a slightly more concentrated product to the next stage and returns a slightly less concentrated residue to the previous stage.

There are currently two generic commercial methods employed internationally for enrichment: gaseous diffusion (referred to as ''first'' generation) and gas centrifuge (''second'' generation) which consumes only 6% as much energy as gaseous diffusion. Later generation methods will become established because they will be more efficient in terms of the energy input for the same degree of enrichment and the next method of enrichment to be commercialized will be referred to as ''third'' generation. Some work is being done that would use nuclear resonance; however there is no reliable evidence that any nuclear resonance processes have been scaled up to production.

Diffusion techniques

Gaseous diffusion

Gaseous diffusion is a technology used to produce enriched uranium by forcing gaseous uranium hexafluoride (''hex'') through semi-permeable membranes. This produces a slight separation between the molecules containing ²³⁵U and ²³⁸U. Throughout the Cold War, gaseous diffusion played a major role as a uranium enrichment technique, and as of 2008 accounted for about 33% of enriched uranium production, but is now an obsolete technology that is steadily being replaced by the later generations of technology as the diffusion plants reach their ends-of-life.

Thermal diffusion

Thermal diffusion utilizes the transfer of heat across a thin liquid or gas to accomplish isotope separation. The process exploits the fact that the lighter ²³⁵U gas molecules will diffuse toward a hot surface, and the heavier ²³⁸U gas molecules will diffuse toward a cold surface. The S-50 plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee was used during World War II to prepare feed material for the EMIS process. It was abandoned in favor of gaseous diffusion.

Centrifuge techniques

Gas centrifuge

The gas centrifuge process uses a large number of rotating cylinders in series and parallel formations. Each cylinder's rotation creates a strong centrifugal force so that the heavier gas molecules containing ²³⁸U move toward the outside of the cylinder and the lighter gas molecules rich in ²³⁵U collect closer to the center. It requires much less energy to achieve the same separation than the older gaseous diffusion process, which it has largely replaced and so is the current method of choice and is termed ''second generation''. It has a separation factor per stage of 1.3 relative to gaseous diffusion of 1.005, which translates to about one-fiftieth of the energy requirements. Gas centrifuge techniques produce about 54% of the world's enriched uranium.

Zippe centrifuge

The Zippe centrifuge is an improvement on the standard gas centrifuge, the primary difference being the use of heat. The bottom of the rotating cylinder is heated, producing convection currents that move the ²³⁵U up the cylinder, where it can be collected by scoops. This improved centrifuge design is used commercially by Urenco to produce nuclear fuel and was used by Pakistan in their nuclear weapons program.

Laser techniques

Laser processes promise lower energy inputs, lower capital costs and lower tails assays, hence significant economic advantages. Several laser processes have been investigated or are under development. None of the laser processes below are yet ready for commercial use, though SILEX is well advanced and expected to begin commercial production in 2012.(see here: 30 April 2008) and May 2010 Investor Presentation

Atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS)

''Atomic vapor laser isotope separation'' employs specially tuned lasers to separate isotopes of uranium using selective ionization of hyperfine transitions. The technique uses lasers which are tuned to frequencies that ionize ²³⁵U atoms and no others. The positively charged ²³⁵U ions are then attracted to a negatively charged plate and collected.

Molecular laser isotope separation (MLIS)

''Molecular laser isotope separation'' uses an infrared laser directed at UF₆, exciting molecules that contain a ²³⁵U atom. A second laser frees a fluorine atom, leaving uranium pentafluoride which then precipitates out of the gas.

Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (SILEX)

''Separation of isotopes by laser excitation'' is an Australian development that also uses UF₆. After a protracted development process involving U.S. enrichment company USEC acquiring and then relinquishing commercialization rights to the technology, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) signed a commercialization agreement with Silex Systems in 2006 (see here). GEH has since begun construction of a demonstration test loop and announced plans to build an initial commercial facility. (see here: 30 April 2008). Details of the process are restricted by intergovernmental agreements between USA and Australia and the commercial entities. SILEX has been indicated to be an order of magnitude more efficient than existing production techniques but again, the exact figure is classified. In August, 2011 ''The New York Times'' reported that Global Laser Enrichment, a subsidiary of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, had applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a permit to build a commercial plant. Details of the process are secret.

Other techniques

Aerodynamic processes

Aerodynamic enrichment processes include the Becker jet nozzle techniques developed by E. W. Becker and associates using the LIGA process and the vortex tube separation process. These aerodynamic separation processes depend upon diffusion driven by pressure gradients, as does the gas centrifuge. In effect, aerodynamic processes can be considered as non-rotating centrifuges. Enhancement of the centrifugal forces is achieved by dilution of UF₆ with hydrogen or helium as a carrier gas achieving a much higher flow velocity for the gas than could be obtained using pure uranium hexafluoride. The Uranium Enrichment Corporation of South Africa (UCOR) developed and deployed the Helikon vortex separation process based on the vortex tube and a demonstration plant was built in Brazil by NUCLEI, a consortium led by Industrias Nucleares do Brasil that used the separation nozzle process. However both methods have high energy consumption and substantial requirements for removal of waste heat; neither is currently in use.

Electromagnetic isotope separation

In the electromagnetic isotope separation process (EMIS), metallic uranium is first vaporized, and then ionized to positively charged ions. The cations are then accelerated and subsequently deflected by magnetic fields onto their respective collection targets. A production-scale mass spectrometer named the Calutron was developed during World War II that provided some of the ²³⁵U used for the Little Boy nuclear bomb, which was dropped over Hiroshima in 1945. Properly the term 'Calutron' applies to a multistage device arranged in a large oval around a powerful electromagnet. Electromagnetic isotope separation has been largely abandoned in favour of more effective methods.

Chemical methods

One chemical process has been demonstrated to pilot plant stage but not used. The French CHEMEX process exploited a very slight difference in the two isotopes' propensity to change valency in oxidation/reduction, utilising immiscible aqueous and organic phases. An ion-exchange process was developed by the Asahi Chemical Company in Japan which applies similar chemistry but effects separation on a proprietary resin ion-exchange column.

Plasma separation

Plasma separation process (PSP) describes a technique that makes use of superconducting magnets and plasma physics. In this process, the principle of ion cyclotron resonance is used to selectively energize the ²³⁵U isotope in a plasma containing a mix of ions. The French developed their own version of PSP, which they called RCI. Funding for RCI was drastically reduced in 1986, and the program was suspended around 1990, although RCI is still used for stable isotope separation.

Separative work unit

"Separative work"—the amount of separation done by an enrichment process—is a function of the concentrations of the feedstock, the enriched output, and the depleted tailings; and is expressed in units which are so calculated as to be proportional to the total input (energy / machine operation time) and to the mass processed. Separative work is ''not'' energy. The same amount of separative work will require different amounts of energy depending on the efficiency of the separation technology. Separative work is measured in ''Separative work units'' SWU, kg SW, or kg UTA (from the German ''Urantrennarbeit''—literally ''uranium separation work'')

1 SWU = 1 kg SW = 1 kg UTA

1 kSWU = 1 tSW = 1 t UTA

1 MSWU = 1 ktSW = 1 kt UTA

The work $W\_\backslash mathrm\{SWU\}$ necessary to separate a mass $F$ of feed of assay $x\_\{f\}$ into a mass $P$ of product assay $x\_\{p\}$, and tails of mass $T$ and assay $x\_\{t\}$ is given by the expression

:$W\_\backslash mathrm\{SWU\}\; =\; P\; \backslash cdot\; V\backslash left(x\_\{p\}\backslash right)+T\; \backslash cdot\; V(x\_\{t\})-F\; \backslash cdot\; V(x\_\{f\})$

where $V\backslash left(x\backslash right)$ is the value function, defined as

:$V(x)\; =\; (1\; -\; 2x)\; \backslash ln\; \backslash left(\backslash frac\{1\; -\; x\}\{x\}\backslash right)$

The feed to product ratio is given by the expression

:$\backslash frac\{F\}\{P\}\; =\; \backslash frac\{x\_\{p\}\; -\; x\_\{t\}\}\{x\_\{f\}\; -\; x\_\{t\}\}$

whereas the tails to product ratio is given by the expression

:$\backslash frac\{T\}\{P\}\; =\; \backslash frac\{x\_\{p\}\; -\; x\_\{f\}\}\{x\_\{f\}\; -\; x\_\{t\}\}$

For example, beginning with of NU, it takes about 61 SWU to produce of LEU in ²³⁵U content to 4.5%, at a tails assay of 0.3%.

The number of separative work units provided by an enrichment facility is directly related to the amount of energy that the facility consumes. Modern gaseous diffusion plants typically require 2,400 to 2,500 kilowatt-hours (kW·h), or 8.6–9 gigajoules, (GJ) of electricity per SWU while gas centrifuge plants require just 50 to 60 kW·h (180–220 MJ) of electricity per SWU.

''Example:''

A large nuclear power station with a net electrical capacity of 1300 MW requires about 25 tonnes per year (25 t/a) of LEU with a ²³⁵U concentration of 3.75%. This quantity is produced from about 210 t of NU using about 120 kSWU. An enrichment plant with a capacity of 1000 kSWU/a is, therefore, able to enrich the uranium needed to fuel about eight large nuclear power stations.

Cost issues

In addition to the separative work units provided by an enrichment facility, the other important parameter to be considered is the mass of natural uranium (NU) that is needed to yield a desired mass of enriched uranium. As with the number of SWUs, the amount of feed material required will also depend on the level of enrichment desired and upon the amount of ²³⁵U that ends up in the depleted uranium. However, unlike the number of SWUs required during enrichment which increases with decreasing levels of ²³⁵U in the depleted stream, the amount of NU needed will decrease with decreasing levels of ²³⁵U that end up in the DU.

For example, in the enrichment of LEU for use in a light water reactor it is typical for the enriched stream to contain 3.6% ²³⁵U (as compared to 0.7% in NU) while the depleted stream contains 0.2% to 0.3% ²³⁵U. In order to produce one kilogram of this LEU it would require approximately 8 kilograms of NU and 4.5 SWU if the DU stream was allowed to have 0.3% ²³⁵U. On the other hand, if the depleted stream had only 0.2% ²³⁵U, then it would require just 6.7 kilograms of NU, but nearly 5.7 SWU of enrichment. Because the amount of NU required and the number of SWUs required during enrichment change in opposite directions, if NU is cheap and enrichment services are more expensive, then the operators will typically choose to allow more ²³⁵U to be left in the DU stream whereas if NU is more expensive and enrichment is less so, then they would choose the opposite.

Uranium enrichment calculator designed by the WISE Uranium Project

==Downblending== The opposite of enriching is downblending; surplus HEU can be downblended to LEU to make it suitable for use in commercial nuclear fuel.

The HEU feedstock can contain unwanted uranium isotopes: ²³⁴U is a minor isotope contained in natural uranium; during the enrichment process, its concentration increases but remains well below 1%. High concentrations of ²³⁶U are a byproduct from irradiation in a reactor and may be contained in the HEU, depending on its manufacturing history. HEU reprocessed from nuclear weapons material production reactors (with an ²³⁵U assay of approx. 50%) may contain ²³⁶U concentrations as high as 25%, resulting in concentrations of approximately 1.5% in the blended LEU product. ²³⁶U is a neutron poison; therefore the actual ²³⁵U concentration in the LEU product must be raised accordingly to compensate for the presence of ²³⁶U.

The blendstock can be NU, or DU, however depending on feedstock quality, SEU at typically 1.5 wt% ²³⁵U may used as a blendstock to dilute the unwanted byproducts that may contained in the HEU feed. Concentrations of these isotopes in the LEU product in some cases could exceed ASTM specifications for nuclear fuel, if NU, or DU were used. So, the HEU downblending generally cannot contribute to the waste management problem posed by the existing large stockpiles of depleted uranium.

A major downblending undertaking called the Megatons to Megawatts Program converts ex-Soviet weapons-grade HEU to fuel for U.S. commercial power reactors. From 1995 through mid-2005, 250 tonnes of high-enriched uranium (enough for 10,000 warheads) was recycled into low-enriched-uranium. The goal is to recycle 500 tonnes by 2013. The decommissioning programme of Russian nuclear warheads accounted for about 13% of total world requirement for enriched uranium leading up to 2008.

The United States Enrichment Corporation has been involved in the disposition of a portion of the 174.3 tonnes of highly enriched uranium (HEU) that the U.S. government declared as surplus military material in 1996. Through the U.S. HEU Downblending Program, this HEU material, taken primarily from dismantled U.S. nuclear warheads, was recycled into low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, used by nuclear power plants to generate electricity.

A uranium downblending calculator designed by the WISE Uranium Project

Global enrichment facilities

The following countries are known to operate enrichment facilities: Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, the Netherlands, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Belgium, Iran, Italy, and Spain hold an investment interest in the French Eurodif enrichment plant, with Iran's holding entitling it to 10% of the enriched uranium output. Countries that had enrichment programs in the past include Libya and South Africa, although Libya's facility was never operational. Australia has developed a laser enrichment process known as SILEX, which it intends to pursue through financial investment in a U.S. commercial venture by General Electric.

See also

Uranium mining

Uranium market

Nuclear reprocessing

United States Enrichment Corporation

Nuclear fuel bank

Nuclear fuel cycle

Nuclear power

AREVA

Eurodif—European Gaseous Diffusion Uranium Enrichment Consortium

Urenco Group

References

External links

''Uranium Enrichment and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation,'' by Allan S. Krass, Peter Boskma, Boelie Elzen and Wim A. Smit, 296 pp., Published for SIPRI by Taylor and Francis Ltd, London, 1983

Annotated bibliography on enriched uranium from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

Silex Systems Ltd

Uranium Enrichment, World Nuclear Association

Overview and history of U.S. HEU production

News Resource on Uranium Enrichment

Nuclear Chemistry-Uranium Enrichment

A busy year for SWU (a 2008 review of the commercial enrichment marketplace), Nuclear Engineering International, 1 September 2008

Category:Isotope separation Category:Nuclear fuels Uranium, Enriched Category:Uranium

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Name	Sam Cooke
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Samuel Cook
Alias	Dale Cook
Born	January 22, 1931Clarksdale, Mississippi, U.S.
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	December 11, 1964Los Angeles, California, U.S. Interred: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
Genre	R&B;, soul, gospel, pop
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, entrepreneur
Instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar
Years active	1950–1964
Label	Specialty, Keen, RCA
Associated acts	The Soul StirrersBobby WomackJohnnie Taylor }}

Samuel Cook, best known under the stage name Sam Cooke, (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), was an American gospel, R&B;, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his vocal abilities and influence on the modern world of music. His contribution in pioneering Soul music led to the rise of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and popularizing the likes of Otis Redding and James Brown.

Cooke had 29 top-40 hits in the U.S. between 1957 and 1964. Major hits like "You Send Me", "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Cupid", "Chain Gang", "Wonderful World", and "Bring It on Home to Me" are some of his most popular songs. Cooke was also among the first modern black performers and composers to attend to the business side of his musical career. He founded both a record label and a publishing company as an extension of his careers as a singer and composer. He also took an active part in the American Civil Rights Movement.

On December 11, 1964, Cooke was fatally shot by the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 33. At the time, the courts ruled that Cooke was drunk and distressed, and that the manager had killed Cooke in what was later ruled a justifiable homicide. Since that time, the circumstances of his death have been widely questioned.

Early life and career

Cooke was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He later added an "e" onto the end of his name, though the reason for this is disputed. He was one of eight children of Annie Mae and the Reverend Charles Cook, a Baptist minister. He had a brother, L.C., who some years later would become a member of the doo-wop band Johnny Keyes and the Magnificents. The family moved to Chicago in 1933. Cooke attended Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Chicago, the same school that Nat "King" Cole had attended a few years earlier.

Cooke began his career singing gospel with his siblings in a group called ''The Singing Children''. He first became known as lead singer with the Highway QC's as a teenager. In 1950, Cooke replaced gospel tenor R.H. Harris as lead singer of the landmark gospel group The Soul Stirrers. Under Cooke's leadership, the group signed with Specialty Records and recorded the hits "Peace in the Valley", "How Far Am I From Canaan?", "Jesus Paid the Debt", and "One More River", among many other gospel songs.

Crossover pop success

His first pop single, "Lovable" (1956), was released under the alias "Dale Cook" in order not to alienate his gospel fan base (he sang with the Soul Stirrers until 1957); there was a considerable stigma against gospel singers performing secular music. However, it fooled no one - Cooke's unique and distinctive vocals were easily recognized. Art Rupe, head of Specialty Records, the label of the Soul Stirrers, gave his blessing for Cooke to record secular music under his real name, but he was unhappy about the type of music Cooke and producer Bumps Blackwell were making. Rupe expected Cooke's secular music to be similar to that of another Specialty Records artist, Little Richard. When Rupe walked in on a recording session and heard Cooke covering Gershwin, he was quite upset. After an argument between Rupe and Blackwell, Cooke and Blackwell left the label.

In 1957, Cooke appeared on ABC's ''The Guy Mitchell Show''. That same year, he signed with Keen Records. His first release "You Send Me", (the B-side of a reworking of George Gershwin's "Summertime") spent six weeks at #1 on the Billboard R&B; chart. The song also had mainstream success, spending three weeks at #1 on the Billboard pop chart.

In 1961, Cooke started his own record label, SAR Records, with J.W. Alexander and his manager, Roy Crain. The label soon included The Simms Twins, The Valentinos, Bobby Womack, and Johnnie Taylor. Cooke then created a publishing imprint and management firm, then left Keen to sign with RCA Victor. One of his first RCA singles was the hit "Chain Gang". It reached #2 on the Billboard pop chart and was followed by more hits, including "Sad Mood", "Bring it on Home to Me" (with Lou Rawls on backing vocals), "Another Saturday Night" and "Twistin' the Night Away".

Like most R&B; artists of his time, Cooke focused on singles; in all he had twenty-nine top-40 hits on the pop charts, and more on the R&B; charts. In spite of this, he released a well received blues-inflected LP in 1963, ''Night Beat'', and his most critically acclaimed studio album ''Ain't That Good News'', which featured five singles, in 1964.

Loss of son

In 1963, Cooke's 18 month old son, Vincent, wandered away from his mother's supervision and drowned in their front yard pool while Sam was away from the home. With their marriage already in trouble largely due to extramarital affairs by both Sam and his wife, Barbara, the distance between them deepened as Sam blamed Barbara for their son's death. Cooke retreated into a deep depression, and asked that no one wear black to the child's funeral. He found his escape in out-of-town performances, which he agreed to at every opportunity.

Death

Cooke died at the age of thirty-three on December 11, 1964, at the Hacienda Motel at 9137 South Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, California. Bertha Franklin, manager of the motel, told police that she shot and killed Cooke in self-defense because he had attacked her. Police found Cooke's body in Franklin's apartment-office, clad only in a sports jacket and shoes, but no shirt, pants or underwear. The shooting was ultimately ruled a justifiable homicide. His funeral was held in Chicago at A.R Leak Funeral Home, where thousands of fans had lined up for over four city blocks to view his body. Cooke was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Some posthumous releases followed, many of which became hits, including "A Change Is Gonna Come", an early protest song that is generally regarded as his greatest composition. After Cooke's death, his widow, Barbara, married Bobby Womack. Cooke's daughter, Linda, later married Bobby's brother, Cecil.

Controversy

The details of the case involving Cooke's death are still in dispute. The official police record states that Cooke was shot dead by Bertha Franklin, manager of the Hacienda Motel, where Cooke had checked in earlier that evening. Franklin claimed that Cooke had broken into the manager's office-apartment in a rage, wearing nothing but a shoe and a sports coat demanding to know the whereabouts of a woman who had accompanied him to the hotel. Franklin said that the woman was not in the office and that she told Cooke this, but the enraged Cooke did not believe her and violently grabbed her, demanding again to know the woman's whereabouts. According to Franklin, she grappled with Cooke, the two of them fell to the floor, and she then got up and ran to retrieve her gun. She said that she then fired at Cooke, in self-defense, because she feared for her life. Cooke was struck once in the torso, and according to Franklin, he exclaimed, "Lady, you shot me," before mounting a last charge at her. She said that she beat him over his head with a broomstick before he finally fell, mortally wounded by the gunshot.

According to Franklin and the motel's owner, Evelyn Carr (whose last name is identified by some sources as ''Card'', rather than ''Carr''), they had been on the telephone together at the time of the incident. Thus, Carr claimed to have overheard Cooke's intrusion and the ensuing conflict and gunshots. Carr called the police to request that they go to the motel, informing them that she believed a shooting had occurred.

A coroner's inquest was convened to investigate the incident. The woman who had accompanied Cooke to the motel was identified as Elisa Boyer, who had also called the police that night shortly before Carr. Boyer had called the police from a telephone booth near the motel, telling them she had just escaped being kidnapped.

Boyer told the police that she had first met Cooke earlier that night and had spent the evening in his company. She claimed that after they left a local nightclub together, she had repeatedly requested that he take her home, but he instead took her against her will to the Hacienda Motel. She claimed that once in one of the motel's rooms, Cooke physically forced her onto the bed and that she was certain he was going to rape her. According to Boyer, when Cooke stepped into the bathroom for a moment, she quickly grabbed her clothes and ran from the room. She claimed that in her haste, she had also scooped up most of Cooke's clothing by mistake. She said that she ran first to the manager's office and knocked on the door seeking help. However, she said that the manager took too long in responding, so, fearing Cooke would soon be coming after her, she fled the motel altogether before the manager ever opened the door. She claimed she then put her own clothing back on, hid Cooke's clothing, and went to the telephone booth from which she called police.

Boyer's story is the only account of what happened between the two that night; however, her story has long been called into question. Inconsistencies between her version of events and details reported by other witnesses, as well as circumstantial evidence (e.g., thousands in cash that Cooke was reportedly carrying was never recovered, and Boyer was soon after arrested for prostitution), invited speculation that Boyer may have gone willingly to the motel with Cooke, then slipped out of the room with Cooke's clothing in order to rob him, rather than to escape an attempted rape.

Such questions were ultimately deemed beyond the scope of the inquest, whose purpose was to establish the circumstances of Franklin's role in the shooting, not to determine precisely what had transpired between Cooke and Boyer preceding the event. Boyer's leaving the motel room with almost all of Cooke's clothing, regardless of exactly why she did so, combined with the fact that tests showed Cooke was inebriated at the time, provided what inquest jurors deemed a plausible explanation for Cooke's bizarre behavior and state of dress, as reported by Franklin and Carr. This explanation, in conjunction with the fact that Carr's testimony corroborated Franklin's version of events, and the fact that police officials testified that both Boyer and Franklin had passed lie detector tests, was enough to convince the coroner's jury to accept Franklin's explanation, and return a verdict of justifiable homicide. With that verdict, authorities officially closed the case on Cooke's death.

Some of Cooke's family and supporters, however, have rejected Boyer's version of events, as well as those given by Franklin and Carr. They believe that there was a conspiracy to murder Cooke and that the murder took place in some manner entirely different from the three official accounts. In her autobiography, ''Rage to Survive'', singer Etta James claimed that she viewed Cooke's body in the funeral home and that the injuries she observed were well beyond what could be explained by the official account of Franklin alone having fought with Cooke. James described Cooke as having been so badly beaten that his head was nearly separated from his shoulders, his hands were broken and crushed, and his nose mangled.

No concrete evidence supporting a conspiracy theory has been presented to date.

Legacy and cultural impact

The song "A Change Is Gonna Come" was played upon the death of Malcolm X, and was featured in Spike Lee's film ''Malcolm X''. It also serves as title for a season six episode of ''The West Wing'' in which James Taylor performs a version of the song.

Rapper Tupac Shakur references Cooke in a line of the song "Thugz Mansion", and Nas references him in the song "We Major" with Kanye West. The Roots' song "Stay Cool" suggests, "I got the soul of a young Sam Cooke." The Irish rock-group Jetplane Landing have a song named "Sam Cooke". Canadian punk band The Riptides pay homage to Cooke in "Change Gonna Come". Steve Perry makes reference to Cooke's tragic death in "Captured by the Moment".

The Night Beats, a band from Seattle Washington, claim to have borrowed their name from Cooke's album ''Night Beat''.

He is once again mentioned by Nas on the song "Blunt Ashes". The rapper talks about the marriage between Bobby Womack and Sam Cooke's widow, suggesting Cooke’s discontent with the affair in the afterlife.

Rock star Rod Stewart once revealed to VH-1 that as a teen in the UK, he would lock himself in his room and spend hours studying Cooke's vocal phrasings.

A fictional version of Cooke (portrayed by Paul Mooney) appeared briefly in the 1978 film, ''The Buddy Holly Story'', leaving the stage at the Apollo Theater before Buddy and The Crickets went on. After being featured prominently in the 1985 film ''Witness'', the song "Wonderful World" gained further exposure. "Wonderful World" was featured in one of two concurrently running Levi's Jeans commercials in 1985 and became a hit in the United Kingdom because of this, reaching #2 in re-release. Two of Cooke's songs, "Cupid" and "Twistin' the Night Away" were also prominently featured in the 1987 movie, ''Innerspace''. Other movies that featured his music are ''Animal House'' ("Wonderful World" and "Twistin' the Night Away"), ''An American Werewolf in London'', and ''Cadence'' ("Chain Gang").

Cooke's songs "Bring It on Home to Me" and "A Change is Gonna Come" were both featured in the 2001 film ''Ali''. The opening scene of the movie consisted of a live reenactment of "Bring It on Home to Me". Al Green's cover of "A Change Is Gonna Come" is featured during the death scene of Malcolm X.

Alternative rock band The Wallflowers song "Sleepwalker" from their 2000 album (Breach) featured the lyric "Cupid don't draw back your bow/Sam Cooke didn't know what I know." The words are a reference to Cooke's song, "Cupid".

John Cougar Mellencamp's song "Ain't Even Done With the Night" contains the line "You got your hands in my back pockets, and Sam Cooke's singin' on the radio."

R. Kelly performed "A Change Gonna Come", during the Ladies Make Some Noise Tour in September 2009 in New York City.

Colin Meloy of The Decemberists released a tour-only EP entitled ''Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke''. The album was released to accompany his 2008 solo tour, and features five cover songs. "Cupid", "Summertime", "Thats Where Its At", "Good Times", and "Bring it on Home to Me".

The song was featured in Tyler Perry's 2007 film Daddy's Little Girls.

Matt Embree frequently covers "Bring It On Home" at RX Bandits live shows.

Posthumous honors

Shortly following his passing, Motown Records released ''We Remember Sam Cooke'', a collection of Cooke covers recorded by The Supremes.

In 1986, Cooke was inducted as a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1999, Cooke was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked him #16 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In 2008, Cooke was named the fourth "Greatest Singer of All Time" by ''Rolling Stone''.

Discography

Further reading

''Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke'' by Peter Guralnick (2005) ISBN 0-316-37794-5

''Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story from His Family's Perspective'' by Erik Greene (2005) ISBN 1-412-06498-8

''You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke'' by Daniel Wolff, S. R. Crain, Clifton White, and G. David Tenenbaum (1995) ISBN 0-688-12403-8

References

External links

SongsofSamCooke.com

Sam Cooke (ABKCO Homepage)

Rosco Gordon interview

History of Rock and Roll: Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke in the Encyclopedia of Gratitude

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