A news story from our good friends at Reuters about three Chinese men who smuggled a large ball of depleted uranium does its best to imply that the men involved were in danger of suffering radiation-related diseases - when they probably weren't.
Depleted uranium is 40 per cent less radioactive than the natural uranium you will find in your backyard (or for that matter, in small amounts in your drinking water) and is perfectly safe to handle, so long as you don't drop it on your toe.
If DU was such a radiation hazard, we probably wouldn't use it for radiation shielding in radiography departments or as counterweights in aeroplanes.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
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