Terrifying

[Az]

The gaps between energy levels are vastly different. You probably could compare rates of creation but you'd find that the ratios are so incomparable that its just not worth considering

Ok, so by approximation, all alpha are He-4... but there should be some additional products to that decay.... The energies relate to the rates in an exponential manner. That means that even though there is vastly more He-4 than anything else, there still should be, in theory, some other stuff coming out. Right?

[Provost Harrison]

Yeah, there are always side reactions...

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Well if DU is principally U-238 then it won't be particularly radioactive

Principlly, but not soley.

[Az]

well, as the link said, the overall radiation is 14,000 of someunit, and the U-238 is resonsible to some 12,000 of it.
Enriched uranium is some 80,000 btw, so touching a kinetic penetrator isn't a good idea in any case.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Azazel
That means that even though there is vastly more He-4 than anything else, there still should be, in theory, some other stuff coming out. Right?

Yeah, in theory, but I don't know what the quantity ratio would be. One in a number with lots of zeros.

[Az]

Yeah, in theory, but I don't know what the quantity ratio would be. One in a number with lots of zeros.

Well, you know, exponential in relation with the difference in "activation energies"...

[Az]

The gaps between energy levels are vastly different, tens and hundreds of MeV's against eV's or maybe keV's. You probably could compare rates of creation but you'd find that the ratios are so incomparable that its just not worth considering.

Hey, you DanSed me!

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Chemical Ollie
For the rest of your life?

Either a) that's a hell of a long battle or b) you're about to have a bomb dropped on you.

[Patroklos]

There has yet to be a difinitive proof of DU having harmed anyone. I wouldn't mind seeing a report on it, but those who say it is harmful have never produced anything creditable.

Amazingly as radioactive and toxic as it might be no one who uses it regularly, the soldiers who handle it for a lifetime to include the 1000s on ranges that have more DU dust than anywhere as well as drive around in large boxes of it, have no complaits.

Basically people here "uranium" and "radioactive" and then blame any health problem on it out of convienance.

So what exactly is the exposure of 420 tons of DU dispersed in several hundred million cubic miles of atmosphere.

I got more radiation expose from eating my potassium rich bananna for lunch today than any imaginary DU victim.

Is DU harmful, sure, but so is a million other materials you are exposed to daily in wartime and peacetime, many more so. This is a non issue.

[Mr. Harley]

Patroklos, the US military issued some type of warning for crews entering wrecked Iraqi vehicles, it's not a benign substance. In solid form, in the ammunition and in armor, it is essentially harmless for all practical purposes, i.e. sunbathing in Australia or living in Denver will create a greater risk due to ionizing radiation.

That being said, the finely vaporized dust is almost certainly going to be nasty. I suspect nobody is bothering to test it precisely because there is little point except for scientific curiousity. Almost every heavy metal has toxic effects in the body, and inhaling the very fine dust resulting from condensed vapor is an almost textbook way to maximize exposure. It's not going to be healthy. However, just like Agent Orange, the balance of risks (i.e. getting shot at by an intact T-72 versus getting some heavily diluted exposure on the battlefield) makes it a sensible policy. If you are going to do hardware intel on destroyed enemy ordinance, wear a respirator mask.

A good point would be posting warning signs on the burned out vehicles for the families in Iraq. That applies double for the propellant chemicals. They are often highly carcinogenic, and having them "brew up" the vehicle will leave more toxic residue. In fact there are multiple municipalities having problems in the US due to the leaching of rocket propellant chemicals and residues in ground water from as much as half a century ago. I don't think it's going to be easy to seperate out the chemical residue from the heavy metal residue effects. Essentially, the only thing is to keep away from battlefield wrecks, and try to inform the civilian population. That is a positive solution, that deals with the problem, not just a blame game.

[Ted Striker]

This story isn't something that is exclusive to Al Jazeera.

The depleted uranium story has been going on for 10 years now.

But, it was grand of Al Jazeera to put a sensationalist picture of a dead fetus on the page. Obviously, ONCE AGAIN, designed to spark outrage. That's what Al Jazeera does.

They are no better than Hard Copy. So for those of you disgusted at Fox, ask yourself why in the hell would they put a random dead fetus on the page?

The answer, just to generate outrage. For all we know that dead fetus probably has absolutley nothing to do with the story, but hey, it makes people mad.

[Ted Striker]

I also like the nice inaccurate picture of the transport plane at the top, which is dropping anti-missle flares.

The inaccurate caption below it, "The US has dropped tonnes of depleted uranium on Iraq."

Yeah, I'm sure we just have big planes flying around dropping depleted uranium on Iraq just for the hell of it.

With a badly inaccurate photo caption and a randomly thrown in sensationalist picture, you have to wonder just how impartial and credible they are. Do they even check their facts or just put out there what sounds good?


Yeah, but they are more impartial than Fox News.

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


Either a) that's a hell of a long battle or b) you're about to have a bomb dropped on you.

The uranium dust is still there when the battle is over.

[Mr. Harley]

Yes and no. The dust is going to quickly be dissipated over the area, and work it's way into things like the aquifier, etc. Now we are into an area which can be tested, and should. That's why the US military warned the people doing intel work on destroyed enemy vehicles. That's a closed, static environment where the dust will not dissipate. Otherwise I strongly suspect the only real contamination might be to the aquifier, and even then it depends on a variety of factors. Considering how much anti-US proganda is out there (please understand there's plenty of REAL things that people have a right to be upset with this administration, we don't need sensationalist non-facts muddying the water) I would strongly suspect that if ground water contamination was an issue, it would already have been reported. The contamination of water by heavy metals is quite easy to test for.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by problem_child


That about sums it all up, you have GOT to be a True Boni-Fide Pentagon Em-Ploy-Ee.

What you're saying is that any Iraqi/Serbian/Afghan stupid enough to live in Iraq/Serbia/Afghanistan Damn-Hell-Ass DESERVES to be whiped out, Why? Coz they're STUPID enough not to be born in America damnit! That's Why.

Or stupid enough to join the USArmy, dumb-ass white-trash/latino/black lower-income fools that they are.

Why don't you just come out and say, "I'm too stupid to argue the facts, so I use ad hominems, insults, and make up arguments to attribute to my opponents in order to make it seem as though I have a point when all I really want to do is rant."? It would save us all a lot of trouble.