RADIATION COMPARED

The slug of depleted uranium (DU) that we prepared and that ABC News smuggled past portal monitors is shown below. It is a good substitute for testing whether the monitors could detect highly enriched uranium (HEU) because the radiation signal from uncontaminated DU, when shielded inside a cargo container, is actually greater than that from uncontaminated HEU.

Calculated Dose Rate (microrad/hour)

Two centimeters away, when wrapped in three millimeters of lead:
DU: 1,500
HEU: 100

Calculated Dose Rate (microrad/hour)

Two meters away, for same samples:
DU: 1.0
HEU: 0.1
NATURAL BACKGROUND: 2–10

1 Comments

1. 1. robismyname 06:45 PM 5/5/08

   You might want to re-check the math on the dose calculations mentioned about DU and HEU. Or more explaination is needed about the sources. See the NRDC explaination about the differences about DU and HEU at:
   http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/furanium.asp

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