Procedures to calculate radiological and toxicological exposures from airborne releases of depleted uranium

Technical Report · Wed Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

OSTI ID:5820332

Ensminger, D A; Bucci, S A

The 105mm Armor-Piercing, Fin-Stabilized, Discarding Sabot-Tracered (APFSDS-T), Kinetic Energy XM774 and M735A1 cartridges, developed by the U.S. Army Armament Research and Development Command (ARRADCOM), are intended for use in tanks equipped with an M68 gun. These cartridges, both containing a depleted uranium (DU) penetrator, will provide improved penetration effectiveness over the currently fielded M392 and M728 series of armor-piercing, spin-stabilized, discarding sabot rounds and the M735 APFSDS-T cartridge. A concern of using these munitions is centered on potential radiation and toxicity exposures which may result from scheduled or accidental releases of the DU penetrator to the air as fine particles. Depleted uranium metal is formed as a by-product of the uranium enrichment process, and contains a very small percentage, by weight, of the lighter, faster decaying 234U and 235U isotopes. Thus the activity of DU is much less than that of natural uranium, although chemically identical.

• Research Organization: Analytic Sciences Corp., Reading, MA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5820332
• Report Number(s): AD-A-094032
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

560151* -- Radiation Effects on Animals-- Man
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACTINIDES
AMMUNITION
ANIMALS
DEPLETED URANIUM
DOSES
ELEMENTS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
MAMMALS
MAN
METALS
PRIMATES
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION HAZARDS
TOXICITY
URANIUM
VERTEBRATES