Uranium?

[joohang]

I just heard this from my dad who saw at some South Korean news source.

Apparently the cruise missiles used some sort of uranium somewhere and the Americans officially "admitted" that they did. Is it depleted uranium for better penetration?

I tried to dig out some stuff off BBC and CBC but so far no luck. What is this all about?

 

[snooker]

haven't heard of this yet, and quite frankly I do not see this as being true. At least not true to the extent that the U.S. is loading radioactive material in the warheads.... Maybe Uranium is a substance in the material making of the cruise missiles, but not as the warhead.

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: snooker
haven't heard of this yet, and quite frankly I do not see this as being true. At least not true to the extent that the U.S. is loading radioactive material in the warheads.... Maybe Uranium is a substance in the material making of the cruise missiles, but not as the warhead.

I wonder if the whole thing just grew so big just because people read "Uranium" somewhere.

But a friend (who did a lot of research) just told me that the Americans used depleted Uranium for better penetration in the last war and after several years, people complained about radiation sickness.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

they use depleted uranium in bullets...especially out of A-10 attack plane's bullets....they're huge bullets, and they don't nessarily have a large amount of radiation..it's almost negligible.....and it's extremely unstable...because once it impacts something, it basically explodes...but no radiation comes out from it....


they've been using this for years...and it's used in armor piercing sniper rifles.....and also going to be used in the next m16 replacement for the army...which has like 2 or 3 barrels...one for shooting standard issue NATO ammo...and the other for that depleted uranium stuff...

cruise missiles don't use them....it's only on the tips of bullets.....i'm sure the news agency got something mixed up......especially when korea was saturated w/ words of uranium and plutonium...i mean last week, cnn messed up by saying "f117's and bombers flew off from aircraft carriers.....from there, they launched cruise missiles.." ...

 

[KK]

The general that did the breifing on wednesday morning spoke about this. I could have sworn he was talking about it being in the bombs.

KK

 

Depleted Uranium is also used as a Sabot kinetic energy round in all of our tanks as well as a the A-10 Wart Hog's machine gun.

 

[DanTMWTMP]

couple them links

lotsa text.....
i love google!
google is my best friend!

ok i was wrong..they are very radioactive after impact....and US does actively use dirty bombs...(just for its crazy armor piercing ability)


dang, i never knew that.... but i've read somewhere long time ago about them DU stuff caused the gulf war symdrom... :: shurgs :: i donno...don't quote me....

 

[Bartman39]

If its used for amour piercing then the after affects of radiation on the target would be more like "oh well...?"

Once hit (like a T-72 tank) not much would be left to worry about...?

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: joohang
I just heard this from my dad who saw at some South Korean news source.

Apparently the cruise missiles used some sort of uranium somewhere and the Americans officially "admitted" that they did. Is it depleted uranium for better penetration?

I tried to dig out some stuff off BBC and CBC but so far no luck. What is this all about?

A-10 warthogs use depleted uranium bullets. It has better penetration since the uranium is so dense. But there is very little radioactivity if any at all. All the reports of Iraqis getting cacer from that stuff after teh gulf war are bullSh!t.

 

[C'DaleRider]

The main problem is it is pyrophoric, meaning that it burns fiercely on impact and is transformed into a fine uranium oxide powder or dust. The dust particles measure less than 1.5 microns--small enough to lodge in the lungs and other internal organs. This radioactive dust can be carried on the wind. It enters the ground water and food chain.

The U.S. government's own studies have again and again warned of the health risks of DU exposure. A 1990 report warned, "Short term effects of high doses can result in death, while long term effects of low doses have been implicated in cancer."

The study added, "Aerosol DU exposures to soldiers on the battlefield could be significant with potential radiological and toxicological effects."

A recent article in Scientific-American stated that the uranium fired from those shells would stay in the ground for an estimated 100,000 years. One hundred thousand years.

So, DU shells/ammo, while heavier for better penetration and accuracy, will have long-term effects where used. Uranium is toxic to humans, period.

 

[SickBeast]

It's true, and it's one of the reasons why cancer rates have gone up 700% in Iraq since the first gulf war.

 

[kleinesarschloch]

there are also reports in various parts of the former yugoslavia that cancer, especially leukemia has become much more common than before the war.

 

[joohang]

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: joohang
I just heard this from my dad who saw at some South Korean news source.

Apparently the cruise missiles used some sort of uranium somewhere and the Americans officially "admitted" that they did. Is it depleted uranium for better penetration?

I tried to dig out some stuff off BBC and CBC but so far no luck. What is this all about?

A-10 warthogs use depleted uranium bullets. It has better penetration since the uranium is so dense. But there is very little radioactivity if any at all. All the reports of Iraqis getting cacer from that stuff after teh gulf war are bullSh!t.

I wouldn't simply dismiss it like that, man. It looks to me like this is some pretty serious issue but not very informed to the American public properly.

I also think that unusually higher rates of cancer/leukemia is a sign, and it seems like there were several cases of radiation sickness which is clearly distinguishable from "ordinary" cancer patients.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: joohang

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: joohang
I just heard this from my dad who saw at some South Korean news source.

Apparently the cruise missiles used some sort of uranium somewhere and the Americans officially "admitted" that they did. Is it depleted uranium for better penetration?

I tried to dig out some stuff off BBC and CBC but so far no luck. What is this all about?

A-10 warthogs use depleted uranium bullets. It has better penetration since the uranium is so dense. But there is very little radioactivity if any at all. All the reports of Iraqis getting cacer from that stuff after teh gulf war are bullSh!t.

I wouldn't simply dismiss it like that, man. It looks to me like this is some pretty serious issue but not very informed to the American public properly.

I also think that unusually higher rates of cancer/leukemia is a sign, and it seems like there were several cases of radiation sickness which is clearly distinguishable from "ordinary" cancer patients.

Yes, something to definetly look into. Although the bullets have trace radioactivity, I can see where a bullet that gets semi vaporized could lead to a situation where inhilation dust could be harmful. Its just one of those hard things to research given the location of the problem.

 

[PG]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
It's true, and it's one of the reasons why cancer rates have gone up 700% in Iraq since the first gulf war.

Right, and that little stat wouldn't have anything to do with the chemical and biological weapons used by Sadaam on his own people now would it?

We also use depleted uranium for armor on the M-1 Abrahms tank so it can't be all that bad.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: PG

Originally posted by: SickBeast
It's true, and it's one of the reasons why cancer rates have gone up 700% in Iraq since the first gulf war.

Right, and that little stat wouldn't have anything to do with the chemical and biological weapons used by Sadaam on his own people now would it?

We also use depleted uranium for armor on the M-1 Abrahms tank so it can't be all that bad.

How much of those weapons has Saddam used?

Radioactive dust is bad period, as long as the DU is solid, it's not a problem, but once it becomes dust it becomes a big problem.