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Old 15th Mar 2012, 08:55
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Daysleeper
 
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Why do they use depleted uranium in public transportation? What is the purpose?
Various components need to have weights to balance other bits. The smaller the size of a given weight the better, you can have better aerodynamics or more fuel or whatever. Depleted Uranium (DU) is very very dense (so very heavy for a given area). More recently other materials that are nearly as heavy but not so risky are used.

Is it safe from the point of radioactivity even though it is depleted uranium?
Yes, the material is depleted as in not as radioactive as natural uranium. That said there is a reasonable argument that any radiation is bad but in normal use it is a long way from people.
However...it is highly toxic so, in the simplest terms, if it breaks up or burns you don't want to be near it.

What about the safety of the crue which fly the planes around the clock?
The DU is safely locked away in the structure of the plane and as long as they don't crash they have nothing to worry about. If they do crash and it's bad enough to liberate the DU, then they are probably beyond caring anyway.

More interestingly is what happens to the fire crews and others who respond to the accident.
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