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Re DU source and Gulf Illness



Bob,  In response to your reply to me, if reactor DU is used in

weapon/missiles, is it possible that some radioactive impurity could

fractionate out after the explosion and be concentrated enough so that

it might be the cause of the Gulf illness?  Or could Quality Assurance

have slipped up in some batches so impurities could be present at

greater than ppb? Could the Gulf locations where the reactor DU was

exploded be distinguished from the non reactor DU locations to see if

there is a correlation between illness in areas where the reactor DU was

used and where the non reactor DU was used?  This is a long shot but

nothing else has worked so far to explain the Gulf illnesses.   Richard

Lessler





Date: Wed, 9 Apr 2003 15:51:02 EDT

From: BobCherry@AOL.COM

Subject: Re: DU Source



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In a message dated 4/9/2003 1:01:13 PM Central Daylight Time,

Lessler.Richard@epamail.epa.gov writes:



> What is the source of the depleted uranium used in the

weapons/missiles?

> Is it the remains of the uranium after U-235 is removed in which case

it

> should not cause any radiation problem?  Or is it from the U-238 that

> has been irradiated in a reactor to produce plutonium?



The DU that DOD uses comes from both DOE's enrichment facilities and its



reactors. The amount of Tc-99 and transuranics in the DU is on the order

of

parts per billion, which increases its radioactivity by less than one

percent. Note that the transuranics have virtually the same chemical

properties as uranium. Therefore, this trace contamination has no

measurable

effect on DU's chemical and radiological toxicities.



Bob C





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