what are depleted uranium bullets?

Question

Saw reference to this in several movies. What's the big deal?

Answer 1

The above answers are correct but not quite complete.

In nature, there are three isotopes of uranium: 99.3% U-238, 0.7% U-235, and a trace of U-234. All of the isotopes have essentially the same specific gravity of 21 g/cc, that's 21 times heavier than water. That makes uranium the heaviest naturally occurring element.

The only isotope of uranium that has great economic value is U-235, due to its short half life so that it produces enough fission heat to power a nuclear reactor.

So when uranium is mined and processed, the 0.7% of valuable U-235 is separated from the rest of the uranium through a process of enrichment. The U-235 ends up going into nuclear reactors to prodcue clean, safe, greenhouse gas-free energy. The leftovers are then called DU or depleted uranium. DU is therefore composed essentially of the isotope U-238. It is NOT spent fuel from nuclear reactors, and has never been in a nuclear reactor.

U-238 has no value as nuclear fuel. It has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, so its barely radioactive - no more than some granite rocks. But it is very dense so it is useful for things that require high density like bullets, armor, and ballast on airplane wing control surfaces. DU bullets (or projectiles) have the speed, mass and physical properties to perform exceptionally well against armored targets. DU provides a substantial performance advantage, well above other competing materials. This allows DU penetrators to defeat an armored target at a significantly greater distance. Also, DU's density and physical properties make it ideal for use as armor plate. DU has been used in weaponry for several decades.

The higher the density, the greater the force, assuming the speed and total mass are the same. F=MV.

DU is cheap as its essentially a waste product left over from the process of enrichment, it is dense (heavy), and can be easily formed into munitions. U-235 is valuable because its fissionable, and U-238 (DU) is valuable because its dense and easily available. DU can not be used in nuclear reactors, nuclear bombs, or even "dirty bombs" because its the wrong isotope.

An interesting note is that the ratio of the three natural uranium isotopes is always constant everywhere on Earth, and even in meteorites and moon rocks - except at Oklo, Gabon. The only reasonable explanation for this anomaly is that the Oklo uranium deposit was a natural nuclear reactor that was spontaneously fissioning almost two billion years ago.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

Depleted uranium bullets are bullets made from "spent" or non-usable uranium rods from nuclear reactors. Since they no longer produce a significant amount of heat when in a reactor, the rods are used to make bullets, tank shells, and other weaponry. The uranium is naturally very, very dense and thus is used for armor-piercing projectiles.
There has been some controversy over the use of spent uranium bullets since the uranium does still release small amounts of radiation (and would continue to do so for centuries after being "used up"). The Persian Gulf War saw the first use of such a weapon, but since then, groups have called for the ban of the material as studies have shown that soldiers and civilians exposed to it tend to develop cancers more easily due to radioactive nature of the bullets.

Answer 3

DU or depleted uranium is what's left after use as a nuclear fuel. It has a higher U238/U235 ratio than occurs in mined uranium. As the previous responder noted, uranium is very dense (about 21 g/cc vs 7 g/cc for iron and 11 g/cc for lead.) Thus, it has more penetrating power than other projectiles, particularly anti-tank rounds.

Answer 4

Depleted uranium is dangerous because of what it decays into.

Answer 5

There's a good article about them in Wikipediaand other places on the web..Some concern is that there is radioactive residue left over when the bullet splits and sometimes burns.

Answer 6

They will pierce armor because their density is so much higher than other materials......the most bang for your bullet.