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Depleted Uranium: Australia's role
DepletedUranium: Australia's role1. PeopleRecently in Gaoled2. Uranium Mined3. Shipped Overseas4. Enriched andDepleted Uranium Formed5. Storage of DepletedUranium6. Depleted of Radioactivity?7. How Radioactiveis Depleted Uranium?8. Uses of DepletedUranium9. Depleted Uraniumin Aircraft10. Depleted UraniumWeapons11. Depleted Uraniumin Iraq12. Depleted Uraniumin Kosovo13. DepletedUranium accidents1.People Recently GaoledJabiluka Ploughshares: Treena LenthalandCiaron O'Reilly. Spent 66 days In Berrimah gaol,Darwin for unpaid costs following theirdisabling of an excavatorat the Jabiluka mine site, Nagasaki Day 1998.In: 17 Jan 2000; Out: 23Mar 2000.Ploughshares vs DepletedUranium: 19 Dec 1999, USA: WarfieldAir National Guard Airbase in Essex, Maryland:Philip Berrigan,SusanCrane, Rev. Steve Kelly S.J. and Elizabeth Walzdisarmed two A-10 anti-tank"Warthog" aircraft -- hammering on the Gatling gunthat fires radioactive DUbullets.Currently serving sentences:Philip Berrigan:prosecution asked for 6 to 12 months,despite Philip being over70 years old, the judge sentenced him to 30 months in prison.Susan Crane: prosecutionasked for 2 to 9 months, the judge sentenced her to 27 months.Rev Steve Kelly:prosecution asked for 2 to 9 months, the judge sentenced him to 27 months.Elizabeth Walz:prosecution asked for 0 to 1 month, the judge sentenced her to 18 months. Radio Reports of the disarming:Democracy Now! Radio: InitialReport with Background (20/12/1999) PhilipBerrigan Interviewed from Gaol (17/3/2000) Trialand Sentencing (28/3/2000)Other Links: TheNuclear Resistor TridentPloughshares 20002.Uranium MinedMined Uranium is the form ofYellowcake: U3O8Uranium is mined in Australiaat: Ranger in Kakadu, Northern Territory. Roxby Downs (aka Olympic Dam), South Australia. Beverleyin the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. (Not yet operating commmercially.) Constructed mine currently onhold: Jabiluka in Kakadu, Northern Territory.Mine close to construction: Honeymoon, South Australia.More Info can be found at http://www.sea-us.org.au: Rangermine Roxbymine Jabiluka mine Beverleymine Honeymoonmine3.Shipped OverseasThe Yellowcake is shipped toFrance, South Korea, UK, Japan, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium,Canada and the USA.Australia produces 18% ofthe world's supply of Uranium.In 1999 the USA received 1500tonnes of Yellowcake, containing 1272 tonnes of Uranium.Source: UraniumInformation Centre (www.sea-us.org.au link) and calculationsby the author.4.Enriched and Depleted Uranium FormedYellowcake in the USA is convertedto UF6 gas and then enriched by the US Enrichment Corporationat gaseous diffusion plants located near Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth,Ohio. (USEC has recently announced the closure of the Paducah plant.)The gas is separated into twostreams: enriched and depleted.15% becomes Enriched Uranium:used as fuel in nuclear reactors.85% becomes Depleted Uranium(DU): nuclear waste.So 1500 tonnes of Yellowcakebecomes 1075 tonnes of Depleted Uranium and 197 tonnes of Enriched Uranium.Thus, 85% of Australia'sUranium is not used in reactors but is turned straight into nuclear waste.Source: OfficialUF6 Management Program and calculationsby the author.Link: WISEUranium Enrichment Tails Upgrading Calculator5.Storage of Depleted UraniumThe 1075 tonnes of DU from Australiain 1999 get stored in three locations with the rest of the USA's DU.The US Department of Energyhas 704,000 tonnes of DU stored in 57,634 cylinders at Oak Ridge, Tennessee;Paducah, Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio. (Dec '97 figures)Not all of the USA's DU remainsin storage. Military and civilian applications are increasingly being foundfor nuclear waste. Source: Official UF6 ManagementProgram, Starmet Corporation6.Depleted of Radioactivity?DU is radioactive. So why isit called depleted?The potentially misleading terms"depleted" and "enriched" refer to the amount of Uranium-235, not the amountof radioactivity. This is because it is the Uranium-235 that allows Uraniumto be used in nuclear reactors or in bombs.DU has less Uranium-235 thanYellowcake, i.e. it is depleted in Uranium-235. (As a result ithas more Uranium-238 than Yellowcake. Both Uranium-235 and Uranium-238are radioactive.) Enriched Uranium has more Uranium-235and less Uranium-238 than Yellowcake. It is enriched in Uranium-235.Uses:Enriched Uranium can be usedin nuclear reactors.Highly Enriched Uranium canbe used in weapons or nuclear reactors. (It currently undergoes dilutionwith DU before being used in reactors.)Depleted Uranium cannot be usedas fuel in a nuclear reactor or a bomb unless it undergoes enrichment.Currentbeing used in tank shells and bullets, as an aircraft counterweight andas shielding.7.How Radioactive is Depleted Uranium?1 g of Uranium in Yellowcakeemits around 25600 alpha particles every second.1 g of newly created DU emitsaround 14600 alpha particles every second.So immediately after the enrichmentprocess DU is 57% as radioactive as Yellowcake Uranium. However, DU's radioactivityincreases in the first year after enrichment, and increases again after10,000 years.This is because Uranium producesmany other radioactive substances that must also be taken into account.For example the radioactive Thorium present in DU is 97% as radioactiveas that in Yellowcake. If you want to know why, read on.When an atom of Uranium emitsan alpha particle it turns into an atom of radioactive Thorium.So in pure Uranium, the amountof Thorium increases as time passes.Thorium is also radioactive.Over time each Thorium atom emits a beta particle and turns into Proactinium.The amount of Thorium increasesuntil it reaches a balance point. This is when the amount of Uranium turninginto Thorium is about the same as the amount of Thorium turning into Proactinium.i.e. when the amount of Thorium being produced is pretty much the sameas the amount of Thorium decaying.For DU this balance point occursafter about a year and remains at this point for about 10 million years.During this time the Thorium emits about 12600 beta particles every second.For Yellowcake this balancepoint also occurs after about a year, with Thorium emitting around 12900beta particles every second.So although the Uraniumin DU is 57% as radioactive as Uranium in Yellowcake, the Thoriumin DU is 97% as radioactive as the Thorium in Yellowcake.Uranium and Thorium are justthe beginning of the picture. Next comes radioactive Proactinium and abouta dozen more radioactive substances. More Info: WISE:Uranium Radiation Properties WISE: Uranium DecayCalculator Source: Calculations by theauthor (rather than by using WISE).8.Uses of Depleted UraniumStorage of Radioactive materialcosts money, so uses are being found for DU.As Uranium is 1.7 times as denseas lead, it is being used as a replacement for lead and other heavy metals.Starmet (Formerly Nuclear MetalsInc) makes products from DU, including Radiation Shields, Aircraft Ballastand Weapons.Alliant Techsystems Inc andother companies also make weapons from DU.Submissions to a recent US governmentreport suggested other uses for DU such as flywheels.Links: StarmetDU Products9.Depleted Uranium in AircraftDepleted Uranium has been usedin Boeing 747s to balance the aircraft's centre of gravity.On 4th October 1992 an El AlBoeing 747, containing at least 380kg of DU, crashed in Amsterdam.The resulting fire may havebeen hot enough for Uranium to burn, producing Uranium Oxide, which canbe inhaled.The LAKA foundation estimatethat 225kg of depleted Uranium is still unaccounted for. Link: LAKAfoundation: Uranium pollution from the Amsterdam 1992 plane crash10.Depleted Uranium WeaponsAlliant Techsystems Inc makesM1A1 tank shells which contains DU.They also make bullets: GAU-8/Aammunition for the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft.On impact, Uranium can ignite,incinerating people inside tanks. DU can also form into particles thatcan be carried through the air.Links: Alliant Techsystems:M1A1tank ammunition, GAU-8/Aammunition11.Depleted Uranium in IraqDU shells and bullets were usedduring the Gulf War. This left around 300 tonnesof Uranium scattered around regions of Iraq.Bullets containing DU are stilllying around in Iraq. The US has not warned Iraqis that handling thesebullets means handling radioactive waste, so children play with them.US Gulf War veterans have testedpositive to the presence of Uranium in their bodiesParts of Iraq have seen an inexplicableincrease in birth defects: cause unknown.US Gulf War veterans have hadchildren with similar birth defects: cause unknown. Calls for medical investigationinto DU are increasing.Dr Doug Rokke, former head ofthe US military's DU clean up project in Iraq, claims US military toldhim to lie about DU in Iraq. He also claims that even today the US militarycontinue to tell him to "cease and desist" his continuing DU work of seekingmedical assistance for veterans and environmental clean up. Dr Rokke alsospeaks of a shot fired through a bedroom window of his home and the laterransacking of his home. Patricia Axelrod, a military scientist who specializesin weapons systems analysis, took radiation readings in Yugoslavia andalleges that the US used DU, not just in A-10 rounds, but also in missiles.Listen to an interview: DemocracyRadio 30/5/2000Links: Voicesin the Wilderness NationalGulf War Resource Centre, Inc (USA)12.Depleted Uranium in KosovoDespite many unanswered questionsabout the effects of depleted Uranium, DU weapons were used in NATO's attackson Kosovo and Yugoslavia with the firing of at least 31,000 rounds.Officially any dangers havenot been acknowledged, but warnings have been issued.13.Depleted Uranium accidentsIn 1994, 400 rounds of DU bulletswere accidentally given to police. They fired 100 of the rounds at a firingrange. This was not realised for three years. So the firing range containedabout 0.5 kg of Uranium for three years and nobody knew. TheReport. Vieques, Puerto Rico, 19th Feb1999: Two US Harrier Aircraft accidentally fired 263 rounds, each containing148 grams of DU, at the Vieques Naval Range. Initially only 57 rounds wererecovered. First Report.Until recently around 100-200 Puerto Ricans were occupying the range inprotest, preventing it from being used by the US military. These are the"unauthorised individuals" mentioned in thisreport. More Info: WISE:Depleted UraniumUpdated: 24/6/2000HomeCopyright (c) 2000, DrPaul Dyson. May be reproduced with acknowledgement of the author.geovisit();
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