Depleted Uranium (DU)

Herkomst

[Civiele en] Militaire Toepassingen

Kernketen

uraniumverrijking

• Verrijking van het splijtbare isotoop U235 in natuurlijk uranium

• Meest gebruikt: ultracentrifuge en gasdiffusie

• Uranium hexafluoride (UF6) of Hex

• Product: verrijkt uranium (LEU)

• Bijproduct: verarmd uranium (DU)

ultracentrifuge

A schematic diagram of the cross section of a single gas centrifuge. The rotating cylinder forces the heavier U-238 atoms towards the outside of the centrifuge while leaving the lighter U-235 more towards the middle.

Uranium

Weight % U-238 U-235 U-234

Natural Uranium

99.284 0.711 0.0053

Depleted Uranium

99.8 0.2 0.0006

LEU

(LWRs)

96.471 3.5 0.029

DUF6

DUF6 Storage in Siberia

SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES OF VARIOUS CHEMICAL FORMS OF DU, OF TRU WASTE, AND OF TYPICAL URANIUM ORE WITH 0.2% NATURAL URANIUM

BY WEIGHT

Chemical form Specific activity, nCi/gm

uranium metal (DU) 400

uranium dioxide (DUO2) 350

uranium oxide (DU3O8) 340

transuranic activity in TRU or

GTCC waste1 >100

0.2% uranium ore 42 1 Slight differences between the U.S. EPA’s definition of TRU waste and NRC’s definition of GTCC (Greater Than Class

C) waste as it relates to transuranic radionuclides are not material to this discussion because DU is comparable to either one.

2 The specific activity shown for 0.2% uranium ore includes all decay products of uranium-238 up to and including radium-226, assuming they are in secular equilibrium with uranium-238. Radon-222 and its decay products are not included in this number. All values in the table are given in round numbers.

World DU Inventory

Country Organization DU Stocks (in tonnes)

Reported

United States DOE 480,000 2002

Russia FAEA 460,000 1996

France COGEMA 190,000 2001

United Kingdom BNFL 30,000 2001

Germany Urenco 16,000 1999

Japan JNFL 10,000 2001

China CNNC 2,000 2000

South Korea KAERI 200 2002

South Africa NECSA 73 2001

TOTAL 1,188,273

Gebruik DU-metaal

• Civiele Toepassingen

• Militaire Toepassingen

Hoge dichtheid: 19.05 g/cm3

Bijna twee maal zo hoog als die van lood

Civiel gebruik

Contragewichten / Balansgewichten

vliegtuigen, zeilboten, vorkheftrucks, kranen Gewichten

olieboren, gyroscooprotoren

Bouwmateriaal

soort beton: DUcrete

Beschermingsplaten tegen Röntgenstraling

Vaatwanden van vaten voor KSA / hoog actief afval

Militair gebruik

• Antitankgranaten

gevechtstoestellen / -voertuigen: 25mm, 30mm

MBT tanks: 105mm, 120mm, 125mm

• Gemonteerd in bepantsering van pantservoertuigen / tanks

M1A1 Tank

Challenger Tank

Leclerc Tank

Kinetic Energy Penetrator [1]

• Dwarsdoorsnede van een 120mm antitankgranaat

Kinetic Energy Penetrator [2]

• In vlucht naar een gepantserd doel, waarbij de ‘sabot’ verloren gaat

Bradley Fighting Vehicle

LAV-25

Harrier AV-8B

A-10 grondaanvalstoestel

A-10 toestel vuurt 30mm DU antitankgranaten op een tank

DU Use in the Balkans

Bosnia 1994/1995 (Sarajevo)10,800 rounds (DoD, Jan 4, 2001)2927 kg of DU Major focus: around Sarajevo

Kosovo 199931,000 rounds (NATO, Feb 7, 2000)8401 kg of DUMajor focus: an area west of the Pec-Dakovica-Prizren highway, in the

area surrounding Klina, in the area around Prizren and in an area to the north of a line joining Suva Reka and Urosevac

DU Use in the Balkans (2)

Southern Serbia Presevo161 rounds (local reports, Dec 11, 2006)Cleanup operations costs: € 350,000 (Xinhua, Dec 12, 2006)Borovac 44 DU rounds (AP Dec. 13, 2005)Bratoselce 100 kg of DU in soil; 2.5 tons of contaminated earth stored in the Vinca institute's facilitiesCleanup costs: 15 million dinars (US$ 260,000).(Serbian Government Nov. 10, 2003)MontenegroCape Arza on Lustica Peninsula 242 whole DU penetrators and 49 fragments (75 kg of uranium) were found and disposed of

safely. Approximately 7 tons of contaminated material (aluminium jackets, soil, pieces of rocks, dead leaves and needles) were also removed. (IRPA 11, Madrid, Spain, 23-28 May 2004)

Analyse DU-munitie Balkan

• Sporen gevonden van U-236, Pu, Co-60, and Cs-137 in DU

• Oorzaak: DU was van verrijkingsfabrieken, die gebruikt werden voor het verrijken van opgewerkt uranium

DU Ammunition Used in the 1991 Gulf War

Branch Weapon System

Ammo Size Quantity of DU rounds

Weight of DU (kg)

US Army M1 tank

M1A1 tank

105mm

120mm

504

9,048

1,930

37,293

US Air Force

A-10 jet

A-16 jet

30mm

30mm

782,514

1,000

236,319

302

US Marine Corps

AV-8B Harrier

M60A3, M1A1

25mm

105, 120mm

67,436

unknown

9,981

unknown

US Navy Phalanx Gun 20mm unknown unknown

UK Navy Challenger tank 120 mm 88 408

Totals Tanks 9,640

Jets 850,950

Tanks 39,631

Jets 246,602

Total 286,233

Jefferson Proving Ground

1983 – 1994: 100,000 kg of DU penetrators

Estimation cleanup costs: US$45 m - US$1.613 b

Removal contaminated soil: US$1.365 b

Off-site disposal: US$111 m

Source: “Decommissioning Plan for License Sub-1435 - Jefferson Proving Ground [JPG], Madison, Indiana. Submitted by the U.S. Army's Soldier and Biological and Chemical Command to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), June, 2002

Limit of DU-oxides intake

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission: inhaling 10 mg can cause health problems

The United Kingdom: 8 mg is harmful for workers in the nuclear industry

more than 2 mg is unacceptable for the general public

The WHO estimates: daily intake of 0.6 microgram per kilogram body weight

(daily limit of 40 microgram for a person of 68 kg)

For comparison: one 120mm DU antitank shell after impact on a hard target can disperse 950 gram of DU oxides and a 30mm one of an A-10 96 gram

Pathways of DU in human body

• schematic overviews are out of date

• Important scientific research omitted on cell level: e.g. bystander effect