"Shoppers accidentally buy nuclear waste"

Shoppers accidentally buy nuclear waste

(China Daily) Updated: 2008-09-15 09:15

Three residents of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region's Aksu city mistakenly purchased and brought home nuclear waste.

In August 2006, the three men - one of whom is surnamed Liu, while the other two are surnamed Wang - purchased a glittering "treasure" for $2,000 in Kyrgyzstan. They brought it back to Xinjiang, hoping to make a fortune by selling it.

Because they knew nothing about the 274-kg stone, they sliced off a piece to bring to Beijing for expert analysis last January.

Last September, geologists at Tsinghua University concluded it was depleted uranium and called police.

Prosecutors in Aksu decided against arresting the men, because they obviously had no idea what they had purchased. The men have undergone medical examinations and appear to be in good health.

(www.iyaxin.com)

"The Wise One" wrote in message news:gciibd$hab$[email]...

The strangest thing about that story is, uranium doesn't glitter. It looks about like lead.

That's not necessarily the case. It can and does look like it has 'glitter' sometimes. Depleted Uranium more so.

"Je�us" wrote in message news:gcogor$smt$[email]...

Really? I didn't know--I've only seen pictures of it and it always looked like lead in the photos. Have you seen it yourself, or do you know people who have seen it?

"Ernie Stye" wrote in message news:[email]...

Correct, but even heavier than lead.

The major flaw is calling it "nuclear waste". Uranium is completely natural. Depleted uranium is the left over U238 after you extract the valuable U235. U238 is less radioactive than natural U, 20X less radioactive than yellowcake ore. Doesn't stop the paranoid schizos from claiming it causes Gulf War Syndrome and other evils.

"Eric Gisin" wrote in message news:gfd67s$hnj$[email]...

I've nevber seen it blamed for Gulf War Syndrome, but I have seen legitimate sources claim it has caused birth defects:

Wikipedia quote: Depleted uranium munitions are controversial because of unanswered questions about potential long-term health effects. DU is less toxic than other heavy metals such as arsenic and mercury, and is only very weakly radioactive because of its long half-life.[4] While any radiation exposure has risks, no conclusive epidemiological data have correlated DU exposure to specific human health effects such as cancer.[5] However, the UK government has attributed birth defect claims from a 1991 Gulf War combat veteran to DU poisoning,[6][7] and studies using cultured cells and laboratory rodents continue to suggest the possibility of leukemogenic, genetic, reproductive, and neurological effects from chronic exposure.[8] In early 2004, the UK Pensions Appeal Tribunal Service attributed birth defect claims from a February 1991 Gulf War combat veteran to depleted uranium poisoning.[9][10] A 2005 epidemiology review concluded: "In aggregate the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU."[11] End Wikipedia quote