Depleted Uranium Ammo

[HankB]

DU is NOT terribly radioactive. IIRC, it was Marie Curie who discovered that most of the radioactivity in uranium ore came from another element, radium, which was found with the uranium. Remove the radium, and you remove much of the radioactivity.

Uranium has more than one naturally occurring isotope, the most important of which is U-235; separate this out, and you can - if concentrated enough - either fuel a reactor or build a bomb. The preponderance of the uranium is U-238; once the U-235 is removed, the uranium is "depleted" of its most useful isotope, leaving almost pure U-238 . . . depleted uranium. As radioactive materials go, it's only mildly radioactive, and really not a health hazard unless ingested or inhaled. (I still wouldn't wear pants lined with it. )

 

[md2lgyk]

Just the keel. They use lead all the time; DU or tungsten (or gold) would be almost twice as good.

Indeed. I stand corrected. I know little about floating boats(aka "targets"); all my Navy service was underwater.

 

[REB]

As other have stated the radiation from DU is not normally an issue. Its an alpha emitter which can't penetrate the layers of dead skin on your body. The radiation hazard of DU is inhaling any dust and getting it into you lungs where an alpha emitter can do serious damage. Du will readily oxidize and the oxidized dust can be a hazard because of the ease in which it can be accidently ingested or inhaled which is why all DU I have worked with in the past is plated.

Many years ago when I was working for the Army testing kinetic energy weapons we used DU and tungsten interchangeably as they have very similar density, if I remember correctly tungsten is actually slightly denser. The advantage of DU was the cost, its a byproduct and we always assumed the government had a bunch of it they needed to do something with.

 

[herkyguy]

Probably just the bulb on the bottom of the keel. Most race boats have only a blade of a keel with a weighted bulb at the bottom to get as much weight low as possible, making it more stable under heavy wind loads.

You'd be surprised just how much money people will put into a boat for even the most remote chance of gaining a bit more speed or upwind pointing.

 

[atomchaser]

You meant to say alpha particles. DU does emit neutrons but in extremely small abundance. DU can be hazardous if an individual inhales fine particles but that is somewhat difficult to do since the material is so dense, it doesn't stay airborne long enough. DU is ideal for defeating armor due to it's density, pyrophoricity, and self sharpening characteristics. It was also cheap due to the Department of Energy having tons of it as a byproduct of uranium enrichment programs. Outside of specific military applications, it's not very practical. It is still used commercially for shielding of gamma cameras and other large radioactive sources.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

You meant to say alpha particles.

Yes, good catch. Helium nuclei. I'll fix it.
Darn, too late to edit. I hate leaving bad information out there . . .

Mike

 

[hso]

Fixed it for you.

Also, here's a link to DU public health information.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=438&tid=77

 

[bugs1961]

There isn't much that smells as good as 30mm gun gas piped back into the cockpit as it enters the engine bleed air system! 20,000 rounds later and it never got old. Ah, the good old days. An absolutely amazing weapons system.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Fixed it for you.

Also, here's a link to DU public health information.
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=438&tid=77

Thanks

Actually that link is for uranium in general. The kidney toxicity is chemical not radiological so it applies to DU.

 

[moxie]

The 30mm DU round used in the A-10 does have a plastic "driving band" near the base of the projectile. It engages the barrel's rifling.

 

[Ignition Override]

bugs1961:
At least TAC or Fairchild found a solution to the double flameouts caused by the gun's exhaust gas going into the compressors, burner cans etc.
Or is cont. ignition switched on before passing over the IP for a target?