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MarkHolloway · Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:03 pm Post subject: Depleted Uranium

What is the source of Depleted Uranium? Spent fuel?

Jinx · Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:14 pm Post subject: Re: Depleted Uranium

- MarkHolloway

What is the source of Depleted Uranium? Spent fuel?

Not quite. Depleted Uranium is produced during the enrichment process.

Here is a brief extract from the article on DU from Wikipedia :

( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...ed_uranium )

"Natural uranium metal contains about 0.71% U-235, 99.28% U-238, and about 0.0054% U-234. Depleted uranium contains only 0.2% to 0.4% U-235, the remainder having been removed and concentrated into enriched uranium through the process of isotope separation. The enrichment process does not create U-235 but merely separates the different isotopes of uranium. Therefore the process leaves large amounts of U-238 uranium as a byproduct. This byproduct is referred to as depleted uranium. For example producing 1 kg of 5% enriched uranium requires 11.8 kg of natural uranium, leaving about 10.8 kg of depleted uranium with 0.3% U-235."

MarkHolloway · Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:18 pm Post subject: Re: Depleted Uranium

Thanks! I learned something new Smile

Jinx · Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:25 pm Post subject: Re: Depleted Uranium

- MarkHolloway

Thanks! I learned something new

You are welcome! And after reading further into the article, i learned that you can produce DU from spent fuel.....but this is really nasty stuff, contaminated with plutonium and other radioactive isotopes. (Scroll down in the article to the paragraph entitled "Dirty DU", about half-way down the page.) Fortunately not much of this has been used for military purposes.

mike_Duplessis · ***Power User*** Offline Joined: Jan 24, 2006 Posts: 236

I recall reading that te most DU radiation exposure experienced in a tank is to the driver driving head-up. When the turret's reversed the APFSDS round stowage is right there over his head - when the turret's forward one would suppose the main armor's right over him. The exposure numbers didn't sound particularly significant but I wouldn't want to make a 30 year career of it.

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