Re: Du in missing plane

["Mike Bohan" <mike.bohan@yale.edu>]

        Reply to:   RE>Du in missing plane

Hi Mark,

I believe the A-10 has a titanium tub in the cockpit as a shield for the pilot.

However,  the cannon that the A-10 was built around to use as one of it's
primary attack weapons can use DU projectiles to penetrate tank armor.  I don't
know if they always use DU, especially for training purposes, because things can
get awfully messy.  See some of the recent media reports about DU residue from
Desert Storm.  

My first RSO boss was an ex-Air Force officer and one of his many jobs in the
service was sifting the Nevada desert for DU shrapnel from the A-10 test
program.  I don't think it would be easy to detect since the gamma emissions
from DU are low.  You'd need a very sensitive detector to detect DU from an air
survey, over the naturally abundant U in the Colorado Rockies.  On the ground,
you'd probably see the wreckage before your detector saw the DU.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Michael J. Bohan, RSO   |  e-mail: mike.bohan@yale.edu
Yale-New Haven Hospital |    Tele: (203) 785-2950
Radiological Physics    |     FAX: (203) 737-4252
20 York St. - WWW 204   |    As usual, everything I say may be plausibly
New Haven, CT    06504  |    denied at my employer's convenience ...
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My question is and I don't know if this is the case,
but if there is Du shielding in this plane. Could it be detected by a
radiation monitor from the air or ground?  Is this possible?
Thanks,
Mark