Depleted Uranium
22 December 2006, 08:26 PM
#1
Depleted Uranium
Some of my mates nip off to that hot dusty areas that are in the news alot these days. Some, who have the choice, are now not going due to this....
....Depleted Uranium.
This is rarely if mentioned at all in the Uk news.
Depleted Uranium is heaver than lead and extreamly effective at penatrating armour
NBC suites are not enough to protect you!
As when it hit a tank or heavy armour or a wall
it burns through it turning into vapor. The particles are nano particles
which means they are so small they will pass through the activated
carbon filter in a gas mask. It remains radioactive for billions of years
( life is 4.5 billion years).
The wind will easily carry the particles as they're smaller and lighter than pollen.
The particles from the Middle East will really travel the planet and are
known to go as far as Florida and the Caribbean as the storms in that region
originate from the Middle East. World cancers will go up as a result. Once
inhaled into body its there for ever. So many of the guys going to Middle
East for secuirty work are totally unaware.
Democracy Now! | Broadcast Exclusive: U.S. Soldiers Contaminated With Depleted Uranium Speak Out
A link here which gives you more info - click on some off the links at the bottom of the page as well.
Remember that the Uk and mainly the US has chucked huge quanities of this stuff around Iraq in two wars. A10s Abrahams etc all used this stuff. Estimates that 4,000 Iraqi AFVs were destroyed using DU ordinance in the first Gulf War alone!
I thought some of you would be interested in this as you never really here it talked about
Steve
....Depleted Uranium.
This is rarely if mentioned at all in the Uk news.
Depleted Uranium is heaver than lead and extreamly effective at penatrating armour
NBC suites are not enough to protect you!
As when it hit a tank or heavy armour or a wall
it burns through it turning into vapor. The particles are nano particles
which means they are so small they will pass through the activated
carbon filter in a gas mask. It remains radioactive for billions of years
( life is 4.5 billion years).
The wind will easily carry the particles as they're smaller and lighter than pollen.
The particles from the Middle East will really travel the planet and are
known to go as far as Florida and the Caribbean as the storms in that region
originate from the Middle East. World cancers will go up as a result. Once
inhaled into body its there for ever. So many of the guys going to Middle
East for secuirty work are totally unaware.
Democracy Now! | Broadcast Exclusive: U.S. Soldiers Contaminated With Depleted Uranium Speak Out
A link here which gives you more info - click on some off the links at the bottom of the page as well.
Remember that the Uk and mainly the US has chucked huge quanities of this stuff around Iraq in two wars. A10s Abrahams etc all used this stuff. Estimates that 4,000 Iraqi AFVs were destroyed using DU ordinance in the first Gulf War alone!
I thought some of you would be interested in this as you never really here it talked about
Steve
Last edited by Steve Whitehorn; 23 December 2006 at 01:57 PM.
22 December 2006, 08:40 PM
#3
Aparently DU was first used in the 70s . I think it was in the Middle east?
I dont know what the level of DU ordanance that was used in the Balkans.
But I would suggest it was not great. Primarily Infantry weapons were used -with not a stong emphasis on armour. Nato did airstrikes towards the end but I think these were against static targets like bridges and not AFVs. Can anyone else that knows more about this conflict answer this?
All I know is that the US have been chucking this stuff about Iraq like its confetti.
I dont know what the level of DU ordanance that was used in the Balkans.
But I would suggest it was not great. Primarily Infantry weapons were used -with not a stong emphasis on armour. Nato did airstrikes towards the end but I think these were against static targets like bridges and not AFVs. Can anyone else that knows more about this conflict answer this?
All I know is that the US have been chucking this stuff about Iraq like its confetti.
22 December 2006, 08:58 PM
#5
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Originally Posted by Steve Whitehorn
I dont know what the level of DU ordanance that was used in the Balkans.
Simon
22 December 2006, 09:01 PM
#6
Originally Posted by GC8
A ****-load Steve, but it seems to have been swept under the carpet (if only they could do that literally eh?).
Simon
Simon
Was hoping not. As I do spend time on and off in those parts.
Steve
22 December 2006, 10:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Steve Whitehorn
Some of my mates nip off to that hot dusty areas that are in the news alot these days. Many, who have the choice, are now not going due to this....
....Depleted Uranium.
....Depleted Uranium.
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22 December 2006, 11:05 PM
#8
This issue effects not just Iraq but many other surrounding countries that dont have IEDs etc ect.
How big a problem it ACTUALLY is?.... only time will tell.
Dig into the info I have posted and it is quite worring.
Yes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing...you never quite know where the truth lies. Usually in the grey area in the middle
(As I say its not spoken about much. Would almost like someone to come along and give a good strong counter argument to say its not a threat.)
How big a problem it ACTUALLY is?.... only time will tell.
Dig into the info I have posted and it is quite worring.
Yes a little knowledge is a dangerous thing...you never quite know where the truth lies. Usually in the grey area in the middle
(As I say its not spoken about much. Would almost like someone to come along and give a good strong counter argument to say its not a threat.)
Last edited by Steve Whitehorn; 22 December 2006 at 11:09 PM.
23 December 2006, 03:06 AM
#9
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yeah the use of this material is not new at all the A-10 warthogs have been using DU tipped ammunition on their automatic weapons in the USAF for 15+ years.
Nothing to do with Uranium can be good!!! I'd stay well away! There is so much **** considered safe now that will turn up illnesses and dangers in 20 years...
Nothing to do with Uranium can be good!!! I'd stay well away! There is so much **** considered safe now that will turn up illnesses and dangers in 20 years...
23 December 2006, 02:37 PM
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Errr, I may be mistaken about this but DU is't radioactive. That's why it's called depleted uranium.
It's so good for penetrating armour because it is so dense - the kinetic energy in a 30mm DU round travelling at 3000m/s is incredible.
The problem is that the dust is indeed extremely small and the material is highly toxic. It's also almost certainly carcinogenic, though that's still to be proved (but let's face it, it will be). Just for good measure, DU rounds are pyrophagic (I think) meaning that when they shed their kinetic energy on impact they generate so much heat that they ignite. They also melt the metal they hit. This gives the double whammy of chucking ****loads of other toxins off in a heated cloud that disperses over a fairly wide area as well as leaving dust and stull around from the shots that miss.
So forget the radioactivity, which is a red herring, but worry about the rest.
It's nasty stuff. Bloody effective, though - glad I've only been on the delivery end of it...
SB
It's so good for penetrating armour because it is so dense - the kinetic energy in a 30mm DU round travelling at 3000m/s is incredible.
The problem is that the dust is indeed extremely small and the material is highly toxic. It's also almost certainly carcinogenic, though that's still to be proved (but let's face it, it will be). Just for good measure, DU rounds are pyrophagic (I think) meaning that when they shed their kinetic energy on impact they generate so much heat that they ignite. They also melt the metal they hit. This gives the double whammy of chucking ****loads of other toxins off in a heated cloud that disperses over a fairly wide area as well as leaving dust and stull around from the shots that miss.
So forget the radioactivity, which is a red herring, but worry about the rest.
It's nasty stuff. Bloody effective, though - glad I've only been on the delivery end of it...
SB
23 December 2006, 04:38 PM
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Correct, one isotope of uranium, U235, is radioactive, another, U238, isn't. Naturally occuring uranium is mostly U238 with a small amount (fraction of a percent) of U235. That's why uranium miners can work without full radiation protection and why people who stumble across naturally occuring uranium haven't died.
For use in a nuclear reactor you need to concentrate up the useful bit, U235, to about 5% if I recall correctly. This is done with the enrichment process which Iran is being vilified for at the moment.
For use in a nuclear bomb you need to have more like 90% U235 by running the enrichment process for much longer. To get 90% U235 there's obviously a huge amount of U238 left over. This is the depleted uranium or DU. Used for non nuclear kinetic weapons as it's so dense but also used in hospitals for shielding around X ray machines for the same reason. If it was radioactive do you think they'd use it in hospitals?
Can't comment on it's toxicity.
For use in a nuclear reactor you need to concentrate up the useful bit, U235, to about 5% if I recall correctly. This is done with the enrichment process which Iran is being vilified for at the moment.
For use in a nuclear bomb you need to have more like 90% U235 by running the enrichment process for much longer. To get 90% U235 there's obviously a huge amount of U238 left over. This is the depleted uranium or DU. Used for non nuclear kinetic weapons as it's so dense but also used in hospitals for shielding around X ray machines for the same reason. If it was radioactive do you think they'd use it in hospitals?
Can't comment on it's toxicity.
23 December 2006, 04:48 PM
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prefectly safe to work with so and radiation suites were not needed to manufacture DU tank rounds (CHARM3) i think they were called.
though iom fairly certain that they are no longer used, they are certainly no longer manufacured in the north east and havent been for quite some time.
though iom fairly certain that they are no longer used, they are certainly no longer manufacured in the north east and havent been for quite some time.
23 December 2006, 04:51 PM
#13
Thanks for that info SB, after all you have first hand experience with the stuff.
The only difference from waht you have described is that my understanding after talking to a few of my mates and reading the info Is that it is highly radioactive. But only after it has vapories into to these tiny particles. In its non exploded state it is realively harmless, apparently they also seal it with something in the factories that produce the stuff as well.
I could be wrong and you could well be right - I am going to re read some of this stuff now
Steve
The only difference from waht you have described is that my understanding after talking to a few of my mates and reading the info Is that it is highly radioactive. But only after it has vapories into to these tiny particles. In its non exploded state it is realively harmless, apparently they also seal it with something in the factories that produce the stuff as well.
I could be wrong and you could well be right - I am going to re read some of this stuff now
Steve
23 December 2006, 04:59 PM
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23 December 2006, 05:17 PM
#15
More Info for those that are interested
"No one has warned the vendor in the faded, threadbare black gown to keep the toxic and radioactive dust off her produce. The children haven't been told not to play with the radioactive debris. They gather around as a Geiger counter carried by a visiting reporter starts singing when it nears a DU bullet fragment no bigger than a pencil eraser. It registers nearly 1,000 times normal background radiation levels on the digital readout."
``Fresh-from-the-factory DU tank shells are normally handled with gloves, to minimize the health risk, and shielded with a thin coating. The alpha particle radiation emitted by DU travels less than an inch and can be stopped by cloth or even tissue paper. But when the DUmaterial burns (usually on impact; or as a dust, it can spontaneously ignite) protective shields disappear, and dangerous radioactive oxides are created that can be inhaled or ingested.``
"We don't know the effects of what it could do," says the sergeant. "If one of our vehicles burnt with a DU round inside, or an ammo truck, we wouldn't go near it, even if it had important documents inside. We play it safe."
Six American vehicles struck with DU "friendly fire" in 1991 were deemed to be too contaminated to take home, and were buried in Saudi Arabia. Of 16 more brought back to a purpose-built facility in South Carolina, six had to be buried in a low-level radioactive waste dump.
Uranium weapons 2001-2003 hazards for Iraq - summary
Low Level Radiation Campaign
New York Daily News - City News - Daily News Special Investigation: Soldiers demand to know health risks
"No one has warned the vendor in the faded, threadbare black gown to keep the toxic and radioactive dust off her produce. The children haven't been told not to play with the radioactive debris. They gather around as a Geiger counter carried by a visiting reporter starts singing when it nears a DU bullet fragment no bigger than a pencil eraser. It registers nearly 1,000 times normal background radiation levels on the digital readout."
``Fresh-from-the-factory DU tank shells are normally handled with gloves, to minimize the health risk, and shielded with a thin coating. The alpha particle radiation emitted by DU travels less than an inch and can be stopped by cloth or even tissue paper. But when the DUmaterial burns (usually on impact; or as a dust, it can spontaneously ignite) protective shields disappear, and dangerous radioactive oxides are created that can be inhaled or ingested.``
"We don't know the effects of what it could do," says the sergeant. "If one of our vehicles burnt with a DU round inside, or an ammo truck, we wouldn't go near it, even if it had important documents inside. We play it safe."
Six American vehicles struck with DU "friendly fire" in 1991 were deemed to be too contaminated to take home, and were buried in Saudi Arabia. Of 16 more brought back to a purpose-built facility in South Carolina, six had to be buried in a low-level radioactive waste dump.
Uranium weapons 2001-2003 hazards for Iraq - summary
Low Level Radiation Campaign
New York Daily News - City News - Daily News Special Investigation: Soldiers demand to know health risks
23 December 2006, 05:28 PM
#16
Originally Posted by Steve Whitehorn
Is that it is highly radioactive. But only after it has vapories into to these tiny particles. In its non exploded state it is realively harmless,Steve
Steve
23 December 2006, 08:25 PM
#17
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Used to be used as a counterbalance in the tail of passenger aircraft. In at least one air crash (the one at Schipol where the 747 flew into a block of flats) when they recovered all the DU they were about a kilo short...
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