Hi Mark, (To pretend this is at least somewhat on topic, I should state radioactivity is not only harmful to humans but also to computers ;) . Go ask the Russians about their experiences with sending robots into Chernobyl.)
> The amount of > uranium is fairly considerable, however, the radioactivity level is > quite diminished, hence the name 'depleted' uranium. Depleted in this sense means about half as radioactive as natural uranium. A round of DU ammunition brought into Germany from Iraq in the 90's was actually seized by the German police. (http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/antiwar/depleted.htm) Some figures: total radiation (including daughters) NU (0.7 wt% U-235) 50,400 Bq/g DU (0.2 wt% U-235) 39,300 Bq/g alpha radiation (including daughters) NU 25,200 Bq/g DU 14,400 Bq/g (http://members.tripod.com/vzajic/1stchapter.html#Activity%20of%20Natura l%20Uranium) Norms for radioactive waste in the Netherlands: 1 Bq/g for alpha emitters and 10 Bq/g for combined alpha and beta emitters. (http://www.laka.org/teksten/Nikhef-02/3.html) > The radioactive > content level of early 90s depleted uranium was not much more than an > average amount in a day out in the sun. What quantity of uranium are you talking about? A gram? A kilo? Lets say a 30mm shell is about 20cm long. Uranium has a density of 18.7 kg/l = g/ml. This equates to 1.5 x 1.5 x 3.14 x 20 x 18.7 ~ 2.6 kg/shell. > Long term exposure to ANY > radiation is bad, but in this case, the tank crews in the M1A2 Abrams, > which my mother built parts for, the exposure was nil. They use > depleted uranium armor in that tank. Sure they tell you the exposure is nil. Ignorance is bliss, at least for the people in charge. Indeed uranium in metal form is not very dangerous when handled occasionally. Problem is it stays around for millions of years (700,000,000 years halflife for U-235). That's plenty of time to erode and get free in partical form. For those who don't care, by that time parts of this stuff will also have reached your home town. Other point is that on impact about 80% of the shell vaporises. Alpha radiation is especially harmful when breathed into the lungs in partical form. Happy happy soldier that get his picture taken on a burning enemy tank. I have heard other numbers about exposure when sitting in an Abraham tank. Although I can't verify this right now (so don't quote me on this) exposure of sitting in an Abraham tank for 24 hours is about the dosis you get from having an X-ray taken. Sorry folks. I know this is not the forum. But I do mind people telling such uninformed nonsense. I will leave it at this. Bye, Leonard. -- How clean is a war when you shoot around nukelar waste? Stop the use of depleted uranium ammo! End all weapons of mass destruction. -- redhat-list mailing list unsubscribe mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/redhat-list
