[ RadSafe ] Re: [ RadSafe] What Became of this 2001 WHO Investigation?

[Susan Gawarecki]

James,

I'm posting from the same address I've been using all along.  Hopefully 
the list administrator can sort it out.

You seem to assume that all 400 tons of U munitions burned up.  NOT 
TRUE.  Only the surficial layer of uranium vaporized.  Then it 
immediatly reacted with oxygen in the air to form a stable oxide like 
U3O8.  More likely the "pesticides, fertilizers, oil, gasoline and heavy 
metals" contribute to birth defects, not to mention nutritional 
deficiencies caused by loss of jobs and the war.  By the way, how good 
is the birth defect data for Iraq--both recent and historical?  The 
quality of the record keeping needs to be the same for the comparison to 
be valid.

You are obsessive about UO2.  We're trying to tell you it's not the 
problem, IT CAN'T POSSIBLY BE THE PROBLEM, if indeed there is a 
problem.  This is a scientific question, but you have made it a 
religion.  There are more important threats to human health where your 
efforts would be much more productive, for example the fight against 
malaria.

Susan Gawarecki

James Salsman wrote:

> Susan,
>
> Thank you for your message to RADSAFE and me below.  Your posts
> are not making it to the RADSAFE list, perhaps because you are
> posting from a different address than where you are subscribed.
>
> "Tigris River water is a concentrated cocktail of pesticides,
> fertilizers, oil, gasoline and heavy metals, reports
> Dr. Husni Mohammed, an Iraqi who holds a PhD in Environmental
> and Biological Science and has researched the condition of
> the Tigris.  Raw sewage mixes with particles from antiquated
> piping and US-fired depleted uranium munitions, he says...."
> -- http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=481
>
> Perhaps irrigation water in the river basins is to blame,
> rather than rainfall.  Both can wash uranium combustion
> products into the water table.
>
> U3O8, the main combustion product of uranium, produces uranyl
> oxide gas vapor fumes as it cools.  R.J. Ackermann, et al.,
> in J Phys Chem, vol. 64 (1960) pp. 350-5 state in their
> abstract, "gaseous monomeric uranium trioxide is the principal
> species produced by the reaction of U3O8 with oxygen."  They
> indicate that this occurs at 1200 to 1800 Kelvin, below the
> temperatures reached by pyrophoric uranium ordnance fires.
> Please see: E.M. Mouradian, and L. Baker, Jr., "Burning
> Temperatures of Uranium and Zirconium in Air," Nuclear
> Science and Engineering, vol. 15 (1963), p. 388-394, in
> particular Figure 6 on page 392, and Figure 3.
>
> You can probably guess the solubility of monomolecular uranyl
> oxide gas vapor fumes, UO3(g), without having to consult the
> CRC handbook or webelements.com.  If inhaled, such particles
> enter the bloodstream immediately.  I suppose ordinary
> gravitational settling could drop them into the water table
> without any need for additional surface water at all.  Is
> that indeed the case for heavy individual molecules?
>
> Thousands of things can cause birth defects, but nobody has yet
> been able to suggest anything which can cause as many more as
> 400 tons of burned uranium.
>
> Sincerely,
> James Salsman