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Re: Kosov DU - New Scientist Report
Bob said:
<Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. How much natural uranium on the average is there
in the top three feet of a square mile of earth?>
One thing's for sure, Bob, 290 tonnes is a lot more DU than 290 tons, or, maybe it isn't. According to Basic Radiation Protection Technology by Dr. Dan Gollnick (3rd ed.9/95, ISBN 0-916339-07-6), an average square mile in the U.S. to a depth of one foot would contain three tons of 238-U. Don't know where Dr. Gollnick acquired that data, but that would be about 3.02 tons (or 2.75 tonnes) nat-U considering natural isotopic abundances. Assuming uniform activity in soil to three feet and the average in the U.S. being representative of the average over the earth, the answer to your question is 9.06 tons of nat-U in a square mile three feet deep. Now if that all went airborne (and who knows what might happen these days) and was inhaled by Reference Man...with Keith's data of 3.3 E-05 Sv/Bq and 0.0254 Bq/ugm...we're talking 2.7 E+08 Sv. Over a population of 10,000, still 2.7 E+04 Sv per person. So, maybe it is! But I think inhaling all that dirt would get ya first....
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