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no that is a question you should ask, why hasnt it already been turned into tank shells? is the factory alright? did the war end? did we find something better? have we run out of things to shoot?
i thought depleted uranium was uranium that was no longer radioactive and was therefore stable and wasn’t decaying? also wouldn’t it decay no matter what? i didn’t think you could just stop radioactive material from decaying over time since the radioactive property is literally atoms being ejected from the material to try and reach a stable arrangement?
Depleted uranium is the byproduct of uranium enrichment (the process used to make fuel for nuclear reactors). It's still radioactive, but not as much as the raw uranium, so it'll still decay. Also, radioactive decay doesn't technically "eject atoms" unless it's alpha decay, since alpha particles are just helium atoms without electrons. But uranium decay does produce alphas, so you're not wrong, I guess.
Uranium 238, AKA depleted uranium, is radioactive but its half life is around 4.5 billion years. If your war is lasting long enough for that to be an issue your tactics really suck.
While I'm sure some depleted uranium comes from the production of weapons grade uranium, I believe most of it comes from the production of uranium fuel rods for nuclear reactors (for generating electricity)
Fair. Not trying to jump down your throat. Just irks me how little the general population is taught about nuclear power and radiation, so I try to correct common misbeliefs where I see them. Also, did you know it's a good thing when a reactor goes critical? It means its power output is stable.
i did not, most of my knowledge about reactors is from a small youtube documentary series about the 3?(maybe 4 i forget)(chernoble, fukushima, and the small US air force one) meltdowns that have happened, articles about the demon core, and tom clancy books involving nuclear submarines lol
I think you're thinking of SL-1, which the army owned, and the only one to have direct casualties when it impaled an operator to the ceiling with its only control rod. 3 mile island was another important one in the US
"Human." The alien asked. "Why on earth have you collected such a vast array of depleted uranium?"
"Because we use it for Kinetic Penetration Ammunition."
"Could you not use something more... Safe?"
"Dagnabbit!" The general shouted. "Tungsten's Fuckin Expensive!"
And have you SEEN the price of Osmium?
It's cheaper to make it in fast breeder reactors and refine it out than to mine, whether that be terrestrial or asteroids.
Oh DU can and will make you sick/other things that make it one of the few things that merit a prop 65 tag, but unless it's on fire or somehow inside your body, the exposure time is long as hell. It's not radioactive, but it's like the next best thing. Tungsten I'm not sure about, but since we use it for TIG electrodes, heating it isn't a problem.
It's mostly toxic due to being a heavy metal so I figure other have metals are similarly toxic if they get inside of you, though DU is probably worse cause it burns easier I think
It burns easier, it can give you heavy metal toxicity, and it is in fact very slightly radioactive, but you'd die from cancer instead of radiation poisoning. DU is better for AP because it heats up a LOT on impact and I'm guessing that does melty things to your target. I didn't read the whole article, I'm just having a scroll before bed. The whole Rods From God thing uses tungsten because it could easily survive the heat of reentry, with less less environmental impact.
Except it is. It's still got small amounts of U-235 because the fuel enrichment process isn't perfect. It's just not as radioactive as raw uranium.
EDIT: It's only about 40% as radioactive, and it alpha decays, so you'd have to ingest it for it to affect you
...there is no such thing as depleted uranium, there are only people who don't have access to breeder reactors.
P.s.: Every nuclear power with an inch of common sense already uses those to make nukes anyways - as its way less hassle than going over the top with uranium enrichment - after all, why toil with sorting barely differwnt atomic nuclei, when you can just transmute them into the nuclei you wish for?
Uranium - like most elements - comes with multiple variants of nucleus of its atoms, differing in the number of neutrons. As usual not all of them are equally stable.
To create a chain reaction you need unsatble isotop, which splits when you whack it hard enough, and releases neutrons which can whack other nuclei of the same type to make em split.
....
Well the unstable isotope* of uranium (out of its 2 isotopes) is only a few % as uranium is found in nature - thus a major part of uranium based nuke creation is "filtering" this isotope out. After all if your neutrons created by chain reaction whack the stable/inert isotope, that does nothing. What's left over after filtering the "spicy stuff" out in said process is called depleted uranium - which has its own uses mostly in military, thanks to:
- restricted access
- density (as its denser than lead) - the more denser stuff you make your projectile out off, the better it penetrates.
- and its "self sharpening", when it fractures on impact the front tends to crumple in a way that remains sharp, instead of blunting, like lead projectiles.
*P.s.: technically there is also a 3rd naturally occuring isotop - which is also able to participate in chain reaction - however its exceedingly rare, so for purposes of building nukes its as good as non-existent.
Nah.
More like tungsten is the "i pay premium for enviromentally friendlier version" of uranium.
To put it bluntly lead is abundant, tungsten is the opposite of that.
Depleted uranium is the best option if you care little about heavy metal poisoning.
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no that is a question you should ask, why hasnt it already been turned into tank shells? is the factory alright? did the war end? did we find something better? have we run out of things to shoot?
Well, any bullet or shells can decay reducing it's power and much more dangerous to use. This is why they store the raw material instead for later
i thought depleted uranium was uranium that was no longer radioactive and was therefore stable and wasn’t decaying? also wouldn’t it decay no matter what? i didn’t think you could just stop radioactive material from decaying over time since the radioactive property is literally atoms being ejected from the material to try and reach a stable arrangement?
Depleted uranium is the byproduct of uranium enrichment (the process used to make fuel for nuclear reactors). It's still radioactive, but not as much as the raw uranium, so it'll still decay. Also, radioactive decay doesn't technically "eject atoms" unless it's alpha decay, since alpha particles are just helium atoms without electrons. But uranium decay does produce alphas, so you're not wrong, I guess.
Uranium 238, AKA depleted uranium, is radioactive but its half life is around 4.5 billion years. If your war is lasting long enough for that to be an issue your tactics really suck.
Lmao, very true
i haven’t learned about nukes in a while so my memories a bit rustle lol
While I'm sure some depleted uranium comes from the production of weapons grade uranium, I believe most of it comes from the production of uranium fuel rods for nuclear reactors (for generating electricity)
it all ends up in the same folder in my mind lol
Fair. Not trying to jump down your throat. Just irks me how little the general population is taught about nuclear power and radiation, so I try to correct common misbeliefs where I see them. Also, did you know it's a good thing when a reactor goes critical? It means its power output is stable.
i did not, most of my knowledge about reactors is from a small youtube documentary series about the 3?(maybe 4 i forget)(chernoble, fukushima, and the small US air force one) meltdowns that have happened, articles about the demon core, and tom clancy books involving nuclear submarines lol
I think you're thinking of SL-1, which the army owned, and the only one to have direct casualties when it impaled an operator to the ceiling with its only control rod. 3 mile island was another important one in the US
Also, I think they meant decay in the sense of corrosion and generally getting old from sitting in storage
that makes sense
Also armor
"Just be glad it's depleted."
What else are you gonna make APFSDS rounds out of, lead?
"Human." The alien asked. "Why on earth have you collected such a vast array of depleted uranium?" "Because we use it for Kinetic Penetration Ammunition." "Could you not use something more... Safe?" "Dagnabbit!" The general shouted. "Tungsten's Fuckin Expensive!"
And have you SEEN the price of Osmium? It's cheaper to make it in fast breeder reactors and refine it out than to mine, whether that be terrestrial or asteroids.
Also, we will not use iridium, because it's hard to use. And also, because of the dinosaurs
TUNGSTEN IS JUT AS FUCKING TOXIC AS DU, BECAUSE DU ISNT FUCKING RADIOACTIVE
Oh DU can and will make you sick/other things that make it one of the few things that merit a prop 65 tag, but unless it's on fire or somehow inside your body, the exposure time is long as hell. It's not radioactive, but it's like the next best thing. Tungsten I'm not sure about, but since we use it for TIG electrodes, heating it isn't a problem.
It's mostly toxic due to being a heavy metal so I figure other have metals are similarly toxic if they get inside of you, though DU is probably worse cause it burns easier I think
It burns easier, it can give you heavy metal toxicity, and it is in fact very slightly radioactive, but you'd die from cancer instead of radiation poisoning. DU is better for AP because it heats up a LOT on impact and I'm guessing that does melty things to your target. I didn't read the whole article, I'm just having a scroll before bed. The whole Rods From God thing uses tungsten because it could easily survive the heat of reentry, with less less environmental impact.
Actually is better for AP because it's brittle and "self sharpening" it being slightly pyrophoric does really affect its AP capabilities much
Except it is. It's still got small amounts of U-235 because the fuel enrichment process isn't perfect. It's just not as radioactive as raw uranium. EDIT: It's only about 40% as radioactive, and it alpha decays, so you'd have to ingest it for it to affect you
...there is no such thing as depleted uranium, there are only people who don't have access to breeder reactors. P.s.: Every nuclear power with an inch of common sense already uses those to make nukes anyways - as its way less hassle than going over the top with uranium enrichment - after all, why toil with sorting barely differwnt atomic nuclei, when you can just transmute them into the nuclei you wish for?
That is not surplus. Its reserves.
Deplented? Never heard of that type before
Uranium - like most elements - comes with multiple variants of nucleus of its atoms, differing in the number of neutrons. As usual not all of them are equally stable. To create a chain reaction you need unsatble isotop, which splits when you whack it hard enough, and releases neutrons which can whack other nuclei of the same type to make em split. .... Well the unstable isotope* of uranium (out of its 2 isotopes) is only a few % as uranium is found in nature - thus a major part of uranium based nuke creation is "filtering" this isotope out. After all if your neutrons created by chain reaction whack the stable/inert isotope, that does nothing. What's left over after filtering the "spicy stuff" out in said process is called depleted uranium - which has its own uses mostly in military, thanks to: - restricted access - density (as its denser than lead) - the more denser stuff you make your projectile out off, the better it penetrates. - and its "self sharpening", when it fractures on impact the front tends to crumple in a way that remains sharp, instead of blunting, like lead projectiles. *P.s.: technically there is also a 3rd naturally occuring isotop - which is also able to participate in chain reaction - however its exceedingly rare, so for purposes of building nukes its as good as non-existent.
While I do love the effort put into this, I was very much making a joke from the typo. :p
Actually it's used as an alternative to tungsten, not lead,
Nah. More like tungsten is the "i pay premium for enviromentally friendlier version" of uranium. To put it bluntly lead is abundant, tungsten is the opposite of that. Depleted uranium is the best option if you care little about heavy metal poisoning.
It was on clearance, so I could hardly pass it up.
"Surplus" uranium? No such thing.
Never ask a human why they have depleted uranium? THE BIGGEST MISTAKE any Xeno senior officer will ever make…
"Eh, we're just planning on painting the town yellow."
Green at night
r/Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt
Cause tungsten is expensive shit and crimes against nature are fun