Perry E. Metzger <perry@imsi.com> writes:]
The media was making a big deal last night about the seizure of twenty pounds of U-238. This, of course, is the non-radioactive isotope of uranium in which trade is relatively unrestricted.
Its plenty radioactive. It just isn't fissionable. Not all isotopes are fissionable.
Uranium is not particularly radioactive, being a long lived alpha emitter. This is true of plutonium and some other fissionable materials as well. I can handle clad uranium or plutonium reactor or bomb components in complete safety with no protective clothing needed. The only hazard is from ingestion of the material, or from accumulation of decay products such as radon in a badly ventilated area. Workers in nuclear fuel fabrication facilities have been known to use small disks of plutonium sintered into a ceramic base as poker chips. Although U-238 can decay both by spontaneous fission and alpha emission, its astronomically long half-life of many billions of years results in a very low level of radioactivity for both these modes of decay. For all practical purposes, we may consider it a stable isotope.
It does make excellent shell casings
Actually, depleted uranium tends to be used in place of lead in rounds used for things like Phalanx (sp?) anti-missile gattling guns. Its also used in some sorts of armor. I don't think anyone in their right mind would make a shell CASING from it.
Uranium is used in munitions because of its mass, which allows it to go through less massive materials like steel or concrete like a hot knife through butter. It is used both for bullets and shell casings. Especially anti-tank rounds and shells designed to penetrate hardened military facilities. The idea is that the uranium penetrates the armor and the charge then explodes once the round is inside. -- Mike Duvos $ PGP 2.6 Public Key available $ mpd@netcom.com $ via Finger. $