Older studies show high exposures to U may especially affect the kidneys. So far, no health problems associated with DU exposure have been found in Veterans exposed to DU in friendly fire events. Researchers and clinicians continue to monitor the health of these Veterans. If you are concerned about depleted uranium exposure during service, talk to your health care provider or local VA Environmental Health Coordinator.
VA offers a variety of health care benefits to eligible Veterans. Not enrolled in the VA health care system? Find out if you qualify for VA health care. Veterans may file a claim for disability compensation for health problems they believe are related to exposure to depleted uranium during service.
VA decides these claims on a case-by-case basis. Avoid facilities that use or process DU: DU is dangerous when it is inside your body. Avoid internal exposure: If DU gets inside the body the hazards increase. Minimize your risk of internal exposure by limiting your proximity to uranium manufacturing plants and firing ranges that continue to use DU in ammunition. They provide DU education programs as part of soldier training.
Military Health System Information on Environmental Exposures to Depleted Uranium Learn more about environmental exposure to depleted uranium, including health hazards to members of the military.
The NRC regulates and oversees the civilian uses of nuclear materials in the United States by licensing facilities that possess, use, or dispose of nuclear materials; establishing standards; and inspecting licensed facilities. This includes uranium used at nuclear power plants. Many states have signed formal agreements with NRC. These states are known as Agreement States. Depleted Uranium at U. Army Sites This fact sheet provides background information about depleted uranium as well as how depleted uranium is used at U.
Army sites for training exercises. Background Information on Depleted Uranium This webpage provides background information about the uses, health effects, toxicological and radiological concerns, and current issues facing depleted uranium. The DOE has a depleted UF 6 uranium hexafluoride management program to ensure that its DU supply is handled in a way that protects workers, the public and the environment.
Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride Learn more about how the DOE is converting depleted uranium hexafluoride into depleted uranium oxide, a more stable chemical form of depleted uranium.
It is unlikely that the average person would come into contact with DU. However, the EPA has taken steps to protect people from exposure.
The EPA provides cleanup managers with recommendations that help keep their workers safe during the cleanup of sites contaminated with hazardous materials, including radioactive materials. In its native state it is a mixture of highly radioactive uranium and less active U U is used in reactors and atomic weapons; once it is extracted, the rest is depleted uranium DU.
It is a poisonous heavy metal like lead or mercury, but only slightly radioactive. To understand why DU makes a good anti-tank weapon you have to enter the Alice In Wonderland world of high-energy collisions. When metal meets metal at five times the speed of sound, hardened steel shatters like glass. Metal flows like putty, or simply vaporises. A faster shell does not necessarily go through more armour, but, like a pebble thrown into a pond, it makes a bigger splash.
Armour penetration is increased by concentrating the force of a shell into as small an area as possible, so the projectiles tend to look like giant darts. The denser the projectile, the harder the impact for a given size. DU is almost twice as dense as lead, making it highly suitable. The other metal used for anti-tank rounds is tungsten, which is also very hard and dense.
When a tungsten rod strikes armour, it deforms and mushrooms, making it progressively blunter. Uranium is "pyrophoric": at the point of impact it burns away into vapour, so the projectile stays sharp.
When it breaks through, the burning DU turns the inside of a vehicle into an inferno of white-hot gas and sparks. Normal uranium is not as hard as tungsten. But a classified technique allows it to be hardened. This is believed to involve alloying it with titanium and cooling it so that it forms a single large metallic crystal rather than a chaotic mass of tiny crystals.
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