Re: [CPEO-MEF] Abandoned shells not radioactive: gov't officials

[jtauxe@neptuneandco.com]

There is an interesting miscommunication here, since the headline does not 
match the article.  The headline implies that the abandoned shells are not 
radioactive, yet the article clearly states that the shells are depleted 
uranium, which meant that they are in fact radioactive, although barely 
so.  The study focussed on the soils around the drum, and predicted that 
there would be no traces of uranium in the soil.  That's different from 
what the headline says.

In any case, however, the threat posed by the DU is not from its 
radioactivity, but rather from its toxicity as a heavy metal.  Municipal 
landfills (at least the older ones) are often loaded with those from the 
disposal of batteries.  It does seem unconscionable for the US Military to 
be selling DU to scrap metal dealers, in any case.  They ought to keep 
better track of these materials.

_____________________________________________________________
John Tauxe, PhD, PE                voice: 505.662.0707 ext 15
Neptune and Company                         fax: 505.662.0500
1505 15th St.  Suite B         mailto:jtauxe@neptuneandco.com
Los Alamos, NM  87544-3063                 LANL mailstop M969
___________ http://www.neptuneandco.com/~jtauxe _____________


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