Posted on 12/04/2007 3:26:24 PM PST by VRWCmember
Agreed.
On the other hand, I’m not sure why it’s news. Depleted uranium is not particularly dangerous.
Everything radioactive smells like tuna.
"A very sad unchristian thing just happened. A sweet old lady's car was stolen. It's a Chevy Malibu. Brothers and sisters. Please, if you've seen this car, just call this toll free number."
There is a metal X-ray at work. A console. You have to increase the cathode voltage by thousands of volts for greater penetration and position for clarity on the monitor to take the picture. The source looks like those big heavy Klystron microwave sources Varian used to make. DC voltage excites the radiac material. There is an anode voltage that focuses the gamma rays electromagnetically. Same principle as a TV CRT.
And a reciever that serves as a camera for the monitor image. I should read the service manual to find out the construction of that part.
I don't know about steel, but aluminum dip brazed aircraft parts need 9-10KV cathode volts to see what's wrong inside of them with this model.
Oh! Good one!
Whadda ya got in the trunk?
How does this depleted uranium just fall out of a pick up truck...? I bet that thing weighs more than just a simple pound or two.
GMTA
“Depleted” ... that should have been the first clue ... depleted uranium is not radioactive ... it’s depleted .... it has the density of lead and harder than anything .... it’s used for armor piercing .....
Well, lots of stuff has similar marking, and uses radioactive material, some of which you probably have in several locations in your house.
I'm a little confused, the story I heard on the local (Dallas-Ft. Worth) radio station, WBAP, said it was Iridium, not depleted uranium. And to my way of thinking, that makes more sense, since DU is less radioactive than natural uranium. I also found this Argonne National Lab document (pdf file) indicating that Iridium 192 (Iridium has 15 radioactive isotopes) "is used industrially as a radiotracer in the oil industry and in gamma radiography to identify flaws in metal castings and welded joints."
It's most likely iridium 192, as reported on WBAP (Rush's Dallas Ft-Worth station). It's used to *inspect* the welds.
how does something like this just fall off the back of a truck? sounds strange to me
Depleted uranium is absolutely radioactive. It is not fissile, meaning you can't create a critical mass of depleted uranium, but it is radioactive.
Not quite right. “Depleted” refers to the fact that the U-238 has been removed, leaving mostly U-235. This IS radioactive. But, being denser than lead, it makes a Great shield for high activity gamma sources.
Maybe, the same way people fall off turnip trucks?
yea thats it I should of thought of that HaHa
Completely depleted Uranium is by heat in those reactors. Who knows? It's most likely Cesium 137 from what I know. The AF uses Cesium 137 sources that are calibrated by NBS for specific gamma ray intensity by distance annually. That's what is used to accurately calibrate dosimeters and radiac meters. I did that once.
And easier to machine and characterize for what serves as cathodes in tubes for those machines. There are 3 voltages that must be tuned for each one: cathode, anode and heater. Provided by the manufacturer. Just like klystron tubes.
LOL
I believe you have that backwards.
I’d hook it up to my X-Box and see what happens.
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