Smithfly114 From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 232 posts, RR: 1 Posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 2740 times:
Hello all
Tonight in my environmental studies class, a guy ( who tends to be a bit of a conspiracy theorist) said that Depleted Uranium is used in "ALL AIRLINERS, OF ALL THE AIRLINES" He said it is used as a ballast. I almost attacked him from my chair!
I came home tonight and looked it up. Sure enough I found information suggesting that it is indeed used in several military aircraft and even mentioned the 747. I am really having a hard time with this, it seems so stupid to me that the engineers at Boeing would rather use a radioactive material as a ballast than fuel, cargo, pax, etc
Brons2 From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 2969 posts, RR: 5 Reply 1, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 2731 times:
DU is a very dense and heavy metal, this I do know.
Firings, if well done, are good for employee morale.
Brons2 From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 2969 posts, RR: 5 Reply 2, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 2711 times:
Well then, it would stand to reason that it would be a good candidate for ballast, would it not? A dense metal weighs more for a given volume, so it would take up less space using DU for ballast versus steel for example or lead.
Firings, if well done, are good for employee morale.
Petertenthije From Netherlands, joined Jul 2001, 3230 posts, RR: 13 Reply 3, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 2717 times:
If it is used in ALL types I do not know, but in many. The 747 definately had it. When the El Al 747 went down in Amsterdam there where are great deal of deceases that are attributed to the DU. During the investigation someone brought a geiger teller into the hangar with the debris and it showed an increased level of radiation!
Having said that... it is rumoured that the El Al plane was carrying a lot of stuff not mentioned on the load sheet intended to military research. That freight might have been responsible for the deceases and the increased radiation levels. This is a very touchy subject though with loads of threads in the past that mostly resulted in mudslinging.
Garnetpalmetto From United States of America, joined Oct 2003, 5244 posts, RR: 55 Reply 4, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 2657 times:
In terms of radiation levels, Smithfly, almost everything I've ready indicates that DU is less radioactive than the naturally occuring uranium found in streambeds, lakebeds, etc and in solid form, poses little risk as it mainly disperses beta wave radiation, which is blocked by clothing. Dispersed in air, it has a rather limited dispersal area and dissolves rather quickly, but does pose a danger if inhaled.
South Carolina - too small to be its own country, too big to be a mental asylum.
Dalmd88 From United States of America, joined Jul 2000, 2365 posts, RR: 15 Reply 5, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 2604 times:
I think the elevator counter balance on the MD-80 is DU. It is really safe as long as you don't grind the stuff into powder.
OPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 6, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 2572 times:
Try a google search for "depleted uranium aircraft" and you'll get several hits with good info. One article I saw mentioned that the 747 was the only Boeing that used it. I recall from previous posts here that the L1011 also did.
One interesting blurb...
"Civilian applications
Depleted uranium is also used in sailboat keels, as counterweights and sinker bars in oil drills, gyroscope rotors, and in other places where there is a need to place a weight that occupies as little space as possible, such as in aircraft ballast (a 747 may contain 400-1,500kg). Tungsten could also be used, but the difficulty in working it makes anything made from tungsten extremely expensive and a mix of tungsten and uranium weights in aircraft is not unusual.
An unexpected application is in Formula 1 racing cars. The rules state a minimum weight of 600Kg but builders strive to get the weight as low as possible and then bring it up to the 600Kg mark by placing Depleted Uranium under the front axle to achieve a better balance."
Oly720man From United Kingdom, joined May 2004, 6182 posts, RR: 11 Reply 7, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 2516 times:
There was some concern when a KE B747F crashed on take off at Stansted a few years ago (instrumentation problems) and no-one could find the DU mass balances from some of the control surfaces.
As people have said DU in a lump is reasonably safe, it's only when it's a munition, hits something and gets reduced to dust that the problems start.
There are all sorts of health problems from Iraq and Kosovo where A10's used tons of the stuff. Plenty of US soldiers are showing effects as well as in the local residents and their kids.
Man City p3 w3 d0 l0 f4 a0 P9 - hey it may never happen again!
Miamiair From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 8, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 2436 times:
McDonnell Douglas used DU in the balance weights of the DC-10 rudder. I found this out when we had a write-up on a C-Check, for flaking paint. To my surprise, we had looked up the material ID in the SRM, and surprise, surprise, surprise...depleted uranium.
But, it serves it purpose well, it is dense enough to allow for smaller arms/more compact design of control surfaces.
ORDagent From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 823 posts, RR: 1 Reply 9, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 2275 times:
The CV880/990 used it as a counter balance in the tail.
DIJKKIJK From France, joined Jul 2003, 1670 posts, RR: 5 Reply 10, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 2247 times:
I have heard somewhere that the older B737s used some radioactive stuff in their emergency exit signs. In the event of a crash, the canister containing the stuff would break and illuminate the sign, so that the passengers can find it even when there is no power.
is this true?
Never argue with idiots. They will bring you down to their level, and beat you with experience.
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12559 posts, RR: 64 Reply 11, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 2199 times:
I have heard somewhere that the older B737s used some radioactive stuff in their emergency exit signs. In the event of a crash, the canister containing the stuff would break and illuminate the sign, so that the passengers can find it even when there is no power.
is this true?
I'd highly doubt that. First off, if designers had the intent of using a chemical reaction to illuminate an exit sign, the fluid in those "glow sticks" you see everywhere would be far safer and less costly.
Secondly, use of spillable radioactive material could pose a higher health risk to the passengers than the actual crash itself.
Third - if the canister breaks into many pieces, wouldn't that mean the sign itself was probably broken up as well, rendering it unreadable?
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
WrenchBender From Canada, joined Feb 2004, 1779 posts, RR: 9 Reply 12, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 2148 times:
Glow in the dark "EXIT Signs" do contain a radioactive source usually H3 (Tritium). It is also used on analogue style instrumentation (they used to use Radium226). You get more exposure sitting in front of your TV set watching Monday Night Football than sittng in the emergency exit row next to one. If you have a watch that has glow in the dark numerals/hands it has the same material in it. Depleted Uranium has been used for quite some time as an effective material for balance weights in flight controls and even as C of G ballast on some aircraft (CT-114 Tutor for one). There is more HazMat problem with the Toxicity of the smoke generated by interior materials then these small amounts of isotopes.
EA CO AS From United States of America, joined Nov 2001, 12559 posts, RR: 64 Reply 13, posted (8 years 7 months 1 week 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 2043 times:
Glow in the dark "EXIT Signs" do contain a radioactive source usually H3 (Tritium).
Well shut my mouth! Good info to learn though - thanks for the correction!
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem - government IS the problem." - Ronald Reagan
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