Abstract: Resource utilization of depleted uranium is an emerging research subject in the field of radiochemistry. The development of new uranium-bearing functional materials is an alternative route. The authors recently discovered the intense X-ray scintillating phenomenon of uranyl-bearing crystals under X-ray irradiation. Compared to the intensity investigated emitters in conventional scintillators, high emissive nature and high radiation stopping power are the intrinsic features for the uranyl ions, which make them promising in the development of scintillator. In recent works, uranyl-bearing scintillators showed high X-ray-to-luminescence conversion efficiency, high X-ray excited luminescence(XEL), strong X-ray attenuation coefficient(XAC), reduced afterglow as well as decent radiation and hygroscopy hardness. In this contribution, the research progress on the uranyl-bearing X-ray scintillator is reviewed. We will discuss the luminescence mechanism, the discovery of scintillating phenomenon of uranyl, and intrinsic advantages based on the uranyl-bearing scintillators, leading us find the idea how to improve the performance of uranyl-bearing scintillator. This work will provide a new strategy for resource utilization of depleted uranium based on the development of uranyl-based optical materials. In addition, we put forward a new route for further designing scintillators with high X-ray detection performance.