[ RadSafe ] Findings of enriched U in Fallujah and elsewhere

[Douglas Minnema]

Sorry, I don't have access to the origianl papers right now.  Just how "enriched" is this material?  And what methods and isotopic ratios were used to determine the "enrichment?"  Similar to EU, not all DU is the same mix of isotopes.  

I would suspect that uranium of any enrichment is much more valuable than DU, and I see absolutely no logical value in using enriched uranium in any of the cases described here.  In other words, there is no financial or weapon-based advantage to using EU over DU.  Furthermore, it is illogical to use EU in order to "disguise" the use of uranium-based penetrators; why not use natural uranium??

Occams razor could also be used to suggest that somebody is mis-interpreting the lab results.

Doug Minnema

>>> "Busby, Chris" <C.Busby at ulster.ac.uk> 10/19/11 1:00 PM >>>
Yes, that is a reasonable suggestion and you may be sure that I thought of it. 
It does not explain the enriched uranium in the Lebanon in the bomb crater and air filter nor the enriched uranium in Gaza samples.
So Occams razor applies.
Sincerely
C 


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu on behalf of Glenn R. Marshall
Sent: Tue 18/10/2011 20:24
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing	List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Findings of enriched U in Fallujah and elsewhere
 
Maybe Saddam spilled a little enriched U while hastily getting out of the country.....  That's at least as plausible as the notion that enriched U penetrators were used on the battlefield.

Glenn Marshall


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Busby, Chris
Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 3:16 PM
To: Joe Toole; The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List; List Radsafe
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Findings of enriched U in Fallujah and elsewhere

No, that isnt the case. I can see why you might believe that. These were two separate labs, one in UK and one in Germany. In addition the Lebanon samples were tested by ICPMS in UK and by alpha spectrometry in UK at a separate lab run by David Assinder (qv). The soil samples Fallujah were extracted  and the uranium concentrated by ion exchange to the point that there was no mistake. The 95% confidence limits were determined: look at the paper.
Chris 


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at agni.phys.iit.edu on behalf of Joe Toole
Sent: Tue 18/10/2011 16:25
To: List Radsafe
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Findings of enriched U in Fallujah and elsewhere
 
<<[as well as Fallujah]...Enriched Uranium signatures have also turned up in other recent battlefields, notably in the Lebanon, where soil from a missile crater in Khiam and also dust from an ambulance air filter both showed the presence of Enriched Uranium in 2006, a finding reported in The Independent by Robert Fisk. The authors are unable to explain why these weapons contain or produce slightly enriched Uranium and call for the military to now reveal the truth about the weapons systems being employed in modern battlefields. >>

It is not clear from Prof Busby's post where these mass spectrometric measurements were done. What I do think is that that the laboratory has an uncorrected measurement bias. Try running a soil or grass sample from Green Audit's back garden in the same lab, you may scare yourself. To extrapolate an uncorrected measurement bias to conclude the existence and widespread use of enriched uranium weaponry is rather silly.
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