NationStates Jolt Archive

Instead of both Bush and Kerry meandering on about Vietnam, why don't current wars enter into the discussion?

http://************/nmyt

*WARNING*

The above thread shows images of stark reality- not for the squeamish...

Thats funny.... "depleted" uranium has a half life of 4.5 BILLION years....but non-depleted uranium does not have anywhere near that kind of half life. Hmmmm

Thats funny.... "depleted" uranium has a half life of 4.5 BILLION years....but non-depleted uranium does not have anywhere near that kind of half life. Hmmmm

yes non-depleted uranium is worse :p
allready knew about this nuclear wast dumping, but no one really talks about it.. nicely covered up.

Anyhow, like the music, Das ich I guess? maybe wumpscut but i doubt.

Thats funny.... "depleted" uranium has a half life of 4.5 BILLION years....but non-depleted uranium does not have anywhere near that kind of half life. Hmmmm
"Depleted" uranium is 80% as radioactive as enriched uranium, it's just no longer powerful enough for use in a power plant or weapon. It's still a toxic, radioactive, and extremely long-lasting substance. U-235, or "non-depleted" (enriched) uranium, has a half-life of 713 million years. So, a depleted uranium shell still contains a fair amount of enriched uranium. Most of the remainder is U-238, with a half-life of 4.5 billion years.

Thats funny.... "depleted" uranium has a half life of 4.5 BILLION years....but non-depleted uranium does not have anywhere near that kind of half life. Hmmmm


that's funny? You are SICK!

"Depleted" uranium is 80% as radioactive as enriched uranium, it's just no longer powerful enough for use in a power plant or weapon. It's still a toxic, radioactive, and extremely long-lasting substance. U-235, or "non-depleted" (enriched) uranium, has a half-life of 713 million years. So, a depleted uranium shell still contains a fair amount of enriched uranium. Most of the remainder is U-238, with a half-life of 4.5 billion years.

It is 40% as radioactive....

http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/faq_17apr.htm

Many countries use it in their arsenals....

"In the 1950's the United States Department of Defense became interested in using depleted uranium metal in weapons because of its extremely dense, pyrophoric qualities and because it was cheap and available in huge quantities. It is now given practically free of charge to the military and arms manufacturers and is used both as tank armour, and in armour-piercing shells known as depleted uranium penetrators. Over 15 countries are known to have depleted uranium weapons in their militaray arsenals - UK, US, France, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Pakistan, Thailand, Iraq and Taiwan - with depleted uranium rapidly spreading to other countries."

Vietnam FOREVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

that's funny? You are SICK!

No, I just question how "depleted" uranium can have a half-life thats longer than "enriched" uranium. It makes no sense since the former is much less radioactive than the latter.

For the record, I have knowledge of and experience with both the B-57 and the B-61 nuclear weapons. Now if you want more bang for your buck, don't go "depleted."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/systems/b61.htm

http://members.aol.com/thudeur2/weapons.htm

Thats funny.... "depleted" uranium has a half life of 4.5 BILLION years....but non-depleted uranium does not have anywhere near that kind of half life. Hmmmm

actually, since half life means that half the amount of the substance will be delpleated in that amount of time, thus half the substance is left over still.

also, after nuclear reactions are completed the products of the reaction are what tend to be quite dangerous as well.

...Over 15 countries are known to have depleted uranium weapons in their militaray arsenals - UK, US, France, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Pakistan, Thailand, Iraq and Taiwan - with depleted uranium rapidly spreading to other countries."

Nice list. I'm glad it's only in safe hands.

(sarcasm off)

Nice list. I'm glad it's only in safe hands.

(sarcasm off)

Yes, just so noone accuses the US of being the only user of these things. I am sure the Iraqis used some of theirs in the first Gulf War. Of course the blame was put on the US though. ;)

Yes, just so noone accuses the US of being the only user of these things. I am sure the Iraqis used some of theirs in the first Gulf War. Of course the blame was put on the US though. ;)

Does Iraq have a nuclear energy station to get depleted uranium from?

Does Iraq have a nuclear energy station to get depleted uranium from?

I would not doubt that the French supplied them to the Iraqis. many French manufactured weapons were found in Iraq AFTER the fall of Saddam. Most were manufactured in the past 3 years. How could they have gotten there in violation of the UN resolutions?

It is now given practically free of charge to the military and arms manufacturers and is used both as tank armour, and in armour-piercing shells known as depleted uranium penetrators.

Does Iraq have a nuclear energy station to get depleted uranium from?

I don't think so, but that doesn't mean they can't buy DU from other nations who DO have a nuclear energy programme. Having said that, I don't think they have the capabilities for DU shells or other DU ammunition.

Does Iraq have a nuclear energy station to get depleted uranium from?
No, but Iran. Probably they mixed that up. Iraq and Iran have after all simular names.
And in order to launch a potential preventive strike against Iran - if it doesn´t give up at least that part of its nuclear program that could be used for producing nukes - a start-up base is needed - therefore Iraq needed an regime change.
On the other hand noone really knows how far Iran has got. Probably it is already too late - like in the case of North Korea. But probably not - who knows for shure. I´m not an intelligence service.

"Half life" is a funny term. It's one of those terms that you have to think of in the opposite way. A higher number isn't always bad. Let's replace our thoughts of radiation with simple bullets.

Assume three guns with the same amount of ammo. One is a flintlock that takes forever to load. One is a bolt action rifle. One is a semi-automatic rifle, and the last one is a fully automatic rifle.

Now assume that you take the rifle and start firing. Which rifle will have the longest time before the ammo is half empty? The flintlock. Which is the most dangerous? Probably the fully automatic rifle, the one with the lowest half life because it has the ability to fire more bullets faster.

So the result is having a long half life doesn't always mean it's bad, in fact it might be a good thing. Short half lives often mean that they decay faster and that's like firing bullets faster because every decay is in effect the firing of a subatomic particle.

Lot's of things decay all around us, and it's not a problem. The very carbon that is in our bodies has a decay ... that's how carbon dating works.

Many things are not a problem simply because they are mildly radioactive. They are a problem because they can accumulate in the body slowly over time. Heavy metals have this problem and depleated uranimum is a heavy metal.

As far as I can tell, there has never been substantive proof that vaporized DU has long term health impacts. Until and unless such proof can be offered, I see no reason to discontinue the use of DU rounds.

http://www.deploymentlink.osd.mil/du_library/health.shtml