Advanced designs and improved operating procedures for the Eglin Air Force Base depleted uranium firing facility

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5466634

Bradshaw, W M; Wichner, R P; Williams, H

Armor-penetrating projectiles fabricated from depleted uranium (DU) are routinely test fired at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) as part of the ammunition surveillance program. The catchment facility for the projectiles consists of a large sand butt in a reinforced concrete building that contains all spent DU rounds and DU-contaminated byproducts. The sand is screened periodically to remove DU projectiles and other oversized materials. Complete sand replacement is required after three firing/sifting cycles to reduce the quantity of fine material in the butt. The current system is effective, but disposal of the uranium-contaminated sand is very costly. This paper describes equally effective but less costly systems that can be generally grouped as (1) alternate catchment media and catchment design, (2) sand/DU separation, and (3) improved operations using the current facility. A detailed economic model was developed to compare systems involving sand/DU separation, sand reuse and changes in operating procedures.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOD
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5466634
• Report Number(s): CONF-8911112-1; ON: DE90002481
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103 -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990000* -- General & Miscellaneous
ACTINIDES
ARMOR
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
METALS
MILITARY EQUIPMENT
MILITARY FACILITIES
PENETRATORS
PROJECTILES
TESTING
URANIUM
WEAPONS