Re: uranium hexafluoride

[king@reasoning.com]

>> I haven't handled it personally, but it is extremely corrosive and
>> is volatile.  There have been a number of industrial accidents
>> involving the stuff.  Anyone from Kerr-McGee listening out there?
>> 

The standard material that can contain UF6 and that is therefore used for
pipes, tanks, etc. is a type of stainless steel called Maraging steel.

Maraging steel apparently has few enough other uses that when Saddam ordered up
a batch of it it was assumed that he wanted it to handle UF6, presumably for an
isotope separation facility.

There is, however, one other amusing use.  You need Maraging steel sword blades
to enter international fencing tournaments.  They're more expensive than
ordinary carbon steel [$60-80 retail for Maraging, $25-40 for carbon], but
supposedly they last longer [they didn't seem to, in my statistically-too-small
sample] and most importantly when they do break the broken end is supposedly
blunter [it doesn't seem to be].  I will say it's corrosion proof.  No matter
how many sweaty underarms it gets poked into it stays bright and shiny; carbon
steel blades get a thin rust layer within weeks.

When Saddam ordered up a batch of Maraging steel, he should have said that he
was planning on hosting the Mother of All Fencing Tournaments.

-dk

disclaimer: my knowledge of the properties of Maraging steel comes from the
            fencing community, not the isotope separation plant comminity.