Re: Request for Info on DU Munitions: Useful(?) Information

[Laszlo Toro <tlaszlo@mail.dnttm.ro>]

Dear Collegues,

I am writing a report to our Ministry of Health on the DU in the
Balkans. A part of this is a model to assess the dispersion of DU in
the environment, dose ansd risk calculation, etc.
One of  the problem (among much other) is the ambiguity in the source
term definition: the mass of DU penetrator in the API rounds.
- prof Jaworowski in his earlier posting give 0.8kg as the mass of the
DU penetrator
- in Environmental Exposure Report Depleted Uranium in the Gulf (II)
(http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/), Table F DU use in the Gulf war
at point B say "each round contains approximately 0.66 pounds of DU"
(there the round is a 30mm API); at point D "...rounds of PGU/20 (a
25mm DU round).[231,232] Each 25mm DU round contains 148 grams (.33
pounds) of DU"
- in the SSI Report there is a picture of an A-10 round, showing
separately the penetrator. I have zoomed the picture and startin from
the external diameter of the round (30mm) I have calculated the volume
of the penetrator (7.2+/-1.2 cm^3) with the density given in the same
report the mass will be 136+/-23g (accordin to my calculations the
round is 30mm  thick and 218mm long)
What is the right value?
by the way I newer could understand the thinking of your jurnalists
(or spokpersons):
in "Uranium traces found in weapons", somewhere close to the end
"However, the head of the Swiss research laboratory, Bernhard Brunner,
said there was no sign that plutonium had been foun" - translated for
me it means we did not found plutonium
and
"``If there is plutonium, then we will find it,'' Haavisto said." now
are or not plutonium in the (unspecified) samples
If the laboratory did not found plutonium what is the reason of the
declaration of dr. Haavisto or the real meaning is: there is the
possibility to be Pu in the samples, we will look for until we find
something"

Sorry for this long message.

yours
Laszlo Toro PhD
Radiation Hygiene Dept.
Institute of Public Health, Timisoara, Romania



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