Uranium, depleted

Uranium in the U.S.A. is controlled by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. New uses are being found for depleted uranium, ie., uranium with the percentage of 23su lowered to about 0.2%. 

One of the most significant sources of change in isotope ratios is caused by the small mass differences between isotopes and their effects on the physical properties of elements and compounds. For example, ordinary water (mostly Ej O) has a lower density, lower boiling point, and higher vapor pressure than does heavy water (mostly H2 0). Other major changes can occur through exchange processes. Such physical and kinetic differences lead to natural local fractionation of isotopes. Artificial fractionation (enrichment or depletion) of uranium isotopes is the basis for construction of atomic bombs, nuclear power reactors, and depleted uranium weapons. 

Depleted Uranium. In the natural state U is a mixt of isotopes from which two, U23s and U238> are extracted for use in nuclear reactors and weapons. What remains after the extraction is known as depleted uranium which now exists in large quantities and for which few uses have so far been found. One property of U is its high d -it is heavier than Pb — and this has led to the investigation of its military applications... 

Depleted Uranium Pyrotechnic Compositions for Spotting Rifle Projectiles , USP 3389027... 

Depleted uranium (DU)—Uranium having a percentage of 235U smaller than the 0.7% found in natural uranium. It is obtained as a by-product from 235U enrichment. 

Invented and developed independently in the late 1950s by D.G. Stewart in the Distillers Company, and R. Grasselli in Standard Oil of Ohio. The former used a tin/antimony oxide catalyst the latter bismuth phosphomolybdate on silica. Today, a proprietary catalyst containing depleted uranium is used. See also Erdolchemie, OSW, Sohio. 

Hazardous Materials Table, 20 809 Dependent chemical reactions, 21 336-337 Dephlegmators, 3 54-56 10 616 Depleted uranium, 25 421 Depletion allowance, 9 539 Depletion flocculation, 10 122, 123 Depletion provisions, magnesium, 15 347 Depletion region, 14 838 23 35 width, 22 244 Depolarization, in cardiac... 

Depleted uranium Uranium composed predominantly of the U-238 isotope considered depleted because most of the U-235 component has been removed. 

Modern Weapons Using Depleted-Uranium Projectiles... 

Depleted uranium is composed mostly of the U-238 isotope and is considered depleted because most of its U-235 component has been removed. Natural uranium is composed of approximately 0.7% U-235 and 99.3% U-238. Depleted uranium has only about half the radioactivity of the original natural element, but radiation emanating from depleted uranium can be hazardous to human health and the environment. 

The Gulf War was the first time U.S. forces used depleted uranium rounds. M1A1, Ml, and M60 tanks fired approximately 14,000 depleted-uranium antitank rounds. Air Force A-10 tank-killer planes fired about 940,000 30-millimeter depleted uranium rounds. Depleted uranium rounds were also used by the U.S. and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies in Bosnia and Kosovo. Over 10,800 depleted uranium rounds were fired in Bosnia in 1994 and 1995, and about 31,000 depleted uranium rounds were fired in Operation Allied Force in Kosovo in 1999.7 Since depleted uranium is very abundant, it is likely that terrorists will use rounds made of this material. 

Miller AC, Fuciarelli AF, Jackson WE, et al Urinary and serum mutagenicity studies with rats implanted with depleted uranium or tantalum pellets. Mutagenesis 13(6) 643-8, 1998... 

Under federal law, silencers are treated in the same category as automatic weapons. Armor-piercing ammunition (popularly called cop-killer bullets) were banned in 1986, with an expanded definition of banned bullets in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 that includes bullets made of tungsten, beryllium, depleted uranium, and other exotic materials. Other accessories can also cause a weapon to be banned (see Assault Weapons above). 

According to the vendor, full-scale processes have been employed to remediate depleted uranium and uranium process residues. Systems have also been designed for treatment of natural uranium-contaminated materials. Processes for the treatment of materials contaminated with multiple heavy metals have been designed and demonstrated. RIMS was unable to determine the commercial availability of this technology. 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) found the cost to dispose of depleted uranium hexafluoride ranged from 4 to 12 billion. As an alternative to disposal, INEEL developed a concept of converting depleted uranium into an oxide aggregate material for use in cement. This cement material is known as Ducrete cement and is used as a shielding material (D202937, p. 1). 

Salbu et al. (2003) used micro-XAS to examine oxidation of depleted uranium (DU) munitions. Interestingly, these studies revealed the presence of U02 and U3Os but no U6+ oxide hydrate phases. Brock et al. (2003) examined the corrosion of DU penetrators in an arid environment. Using SEM, they observed aggregates of tabular, hexagonal schoepite and meta-schoepite crystals with clay/silt particles that were coated with amorphous silica. Brock et al. (2003) suggested that as the schoepite/meta-schoepite phases were coated with amorphous silica/clays, further dissolution was inhibited. 

Brock, A. L., Buck, B., Johnson, W. Ulery, A. L. 2003. Corrosion of depleted uranium in an arid environment Characterizaion with XRD, SEM/ EDS, and microprobe analyses. Geological... 

DDI DISSOL DLM DLVO DOC DOE DTA DU Distilled, deionized water Thermodynamic simulation model Diffuse layer model named after Derjaguin, Landau, Vervey, Overbeek Dissolved organic carbon Department of Energy Differential thermal analysis Depleted uranium... 

Nuclear weapons which usually use nuclear fusion, have far greater yields than weapons, which use only fission, as fusion releases more energy per kilogram and can also be used as a source of fast neutrons to cause fission in depleted uranium. 

As is well known, ammunition containing depleted uranium (DU) was used by NATO, for example, in the former Yugoslavia. To evaluate the origin of DU (enrichment process of natural uranium or reprocessing of exhausted nuclear fuel) it is necessary to directly detect the presence... 

Depleted uranium (DU) is used to reinforce armor shielding and increase penetrability of military munitions. Although the data are conflicting, DU has been invoked as a potential etiological factor in Gulf War syndrome.70 To control possible contamination of soldiers from the Gulf War... 

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