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Drum of depleted uranium found at Florida airport
Ocala.com ^ | July 25, 2013 | Associated Press

Posted on 07/25/2013 10:31:27 PM PDT by informavoracious

MIAMI — Part of the Opa-locka Executive Airport in South Florida had to be temporarily evacuated after a 55-gallon drum containing depleted uranium aircraft parts was found.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue spokesman Arnold Piedrahita Jr. reports that the unsealed drum was found Thursday near a dismantled plane at the airport. A hazmat team from Miami International Airport went to the site, but only minimal levels of radiation were detected.

Officials initially cleared a 150-foot perimeter around the drum, but that circle was later reduced to 5 feet.

Airport spokesman Marc Henderson said no flights were disrupted and the airport never closed.

(Excerpt) Read more at ocala.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: airporturanium; depleteduranium; ocala; opalockaairport; uranium
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A 55-gallon drum found; no Jimmy Hoffa inside.
1 posted on 07/25/2013 10:31:28 PM PDT by informavoracious
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To: informavoracious

This ranks as at least stupidest item of the month at least. DU weights/parts are used in aircraft. Freakin’ idiots...


2 posted on 07/25/2013 10:34:14 PM PDT by Axenolith (Government blows, and that which governs least, blows least...)
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To: informavoracious

Dang. I knew I left that thing somewhere...


3 posted on 07/25/2013 10:42:18 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( ==> sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: informavoracious

What part of the word ‘depleted’ don’t people understand? DEPLETED - as in depleted of its radioactive isotopes and therefore NON-RADIOACTIVE. It’s not nuclear physics, people. Actually, I guess it is. :=)


4 posted on 07/25/2013 10:46:36 PM PDT by Bob
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To: informavoracious
near a dismantled plane at the airport...

Used to fly into Opa Locka all the time, and one thing that was remarkable about the airport was that it was a dump, with aircraft carcasses strewn about all over the place. Always concerned that I'd be able to get in to Miami, but would have a bit of trouble leaving, as I'd come to leave and find my transportation in a similar carcass state. It was always a relief to get there and find my property survived one more risky adventure.

5 posted on 07/25/2013 10:47:23 PM PDT by C210N (When people fear government there is tyranny; when government fears people there is liberty)
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To: Axenolith
This ranks as at least stupidest item of the month at least. DU weights/parts are used in aircraft. Freakin’ idiots...

Not to mention it is used for making bullets for 20 MM and larger(not sure if it is used for other calibers or not, someone on FR must know).

6 posted on 07/25/2013 10:50:07 PM PDT by calex59
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To: Axenolith

Talk about Heavy Metal LOL


7 posted on 07/25/2013 10:56:19 PM PDT by mylife (Ted Cruz understands the law, and he does not fear the unlawful.)
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To: Bob

Someone tell that Zimmermann Juror that WORDS HAVE MEANING.


8 posted on 07/25/2013 10:58:19 PM PDT by mylife (Ted Cruz understands the law, and he does not fear the unlawful.)
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To: calex59

I’m fairly certain that it’s also used for the 30mm in the A-10’s Gatling gun. It may be used in some M1A1 tank rounds as well.


9 posted on 07/25/2013 10:59:21 PM PDT by Bob
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To: Bob

Dats what dey do.


10 posted on 07/25/2013 11:03:20 PM PDT by mylife (Ted Cruz understands the law, and he does not fear the unlawful.)
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To: Axenolith
Officials initially cleared a 150-foot perimeter around the drum, but that circle was later reduced to 5 feet.

Luv it.

11 posted on 07/25/2013 11:09:10 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: Bob
What part of the word ‘depleted’ don’t people understand? DEPLETED - as in depleted of its radioactive isotopes and therefore NON-RADIOACTIVE. It’s not nuclear physics, people. Actually, I guess it is. :=)

It is radioactive but not so anyone would notice.

U238 is an Alpha particle emitter; the radiation could be shield with a sheet of paper. Pretty harmless unless you breathe it, eat it or get it in your eye.

It is a heavy metal so it is pretty poisonous. But if these are solid parts none of those dangers exist and the parts are contained in a drum so even an alpha particle is not going to bump in to anyone.

This was a pretty ridiculous fire drill however. Depleted Uranium used to be easily available in just about any arts and crafts store as a paint pigment. But we do now live in a nanny state where the sheeple must be protected from themselves.

12 posted on 07/25/2013 11:09:58 PM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: Bob

Depleted of fissionable material, having been separated out as fuel grade or weapons grade U-235, but U-238 is still mildly radioactive. It’s nothing to panic over, however. Liberals instead complain about its toxicity when used as bullets. Excuse me nice liberals, but they’re bullets. They’re not supposed to be healthy.


13 posted on 07/25/2013 11:15:10 PM PDT by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: Axenolith

Should I have it pulled? I thought it was funny. I guess not.


14 posted on 07/25/2013 11:20:47 PM PDT by informavoracious (We're being "punished" with Stanley Ann's baby. Obamacare: shovel-ready healthcare.)
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To: Axenolith
I have been eating of Uranium glazed Fiestaware off and on since the mid 1950's and I don't glow in the dark. I don't glow in the dark. I don't glow in the dark. I don't glow in the dark.
15 posted on 07/25/2013 11:56:17 PM PDT by oyez (Hell is a gun free zone.)
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To: informavoracious

16 posted on 07/26/2013 12:09:57 AM PDT by LyinLibs (If victims of islam were more "islamophobic," maybe they'd still be alive.)
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To: informavoracious

The story is funny because it shows the stupidity of those causing it. They hear the word “uranium” or “radiation” and automatically freak out. Like lab rats trained to react to certain stimuli. The line between dangerous and harmless depends on how you’re exposed to it.


17 posted on 07/26/2013 12:20:40 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder (The only thing the Left has learned from the failures of socialism is not to call it that)
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To: Pontiac

“U238 is an Alpha particle emitter; the radiation could be shield with a sheet of paper. Pretty harmless unless you breathe it, eat it or get it in your eye.

It is a heavy metal so it is pretty poisonous. But if these are solid parts none of those dangers exist and the parts are contained in a drum so even an alpha particle is not going to bump in to anyone.”

Uranium burns relatively easily for a metal, and disperses in the air as uranium oxide. That is why some airlines are changing over to other ballast weights. While depleted uranium from enrichment programs contain little U-235, the depleted uranium from reactor cores can contain much more and , in addition, other, more dangerous elements, such as plutonium.


18 posted on 07/26/2013 12:39:59 AM PDT by VanShuyten ("a shadow...draped nobly in the folds of a gorgeous eloquence.")
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To: Telepathic Intruder

It depends on how much radiation your exposed to, and if you eat it, or you are exposed to it.


19 posted on 07/26/2013 12:54:31 AM PDT by FreedomStar3028
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To: VanShuyten
the depleted uranium from reactor cores can contain much more and , in addition, other, more dangerous elements, such as plutonium.

Depleted Uranium from reactor cores would not be found in a drum at an airport or anywhere else other than a Reactor Fuel reprocessing plant or a nuclear waste facility.

You are correct in stating that the depleted Uranium from spent fuel would be mixed with the fission daughter nuclides of U235 and Pu239. This mixture would be radioactive enough that if in this drum would kill anyone with in that 150 foot radius in a few seconds.

20 posted on 07/26/2013 1:13:02 AM PDT by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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