The Environment Agency recently published a contract R&D report, by John Jackson of Alan Martin Associates, on depleted uranium (DU). The report documents a scoping study on the uses of DU; the civil non-nuclear applications for DU were a particular focus of the scoping study.

The study was commissioned following a series of DU related incidents, including the crash of the Korean Airlines' Boeing 747 at Stansted in late 1999. There had also been an assertion in the Guardian (21 August 2000) that as much as 50 tonnes of DU is lying in UK scrapyards. The report confirms that the quantities referred to in the Guardian are groundless. The report provides information and guidance to the Agency's staff who regulate radioactive substances in England and Wales. The report does not attempt to review the health effects of DU (separate health studies have been carried out by the Royal Society and others).

A range of non-nuclear uses of DU are identified in the report:

Transportable shielded containers for radioactive sources
Aircraft counterbalance weights
Piling equipment (civil engineering)
Radiation shielding (hospitals, universities, etc)
Armour piercing ammunition
Uranium catalysts
Ceramic glazes.

The report concludes that there is, in total, less than 50 tonnes of DU in use in the UK outside of military and nuclear applications. The report identifies the aircraft salvage and recycling industry as having a significant risk of DU being lost from regulatory control. (Awareness and vigilance need to be maintained; in February 2001 in Ohio, USA, 53 tonnes of aluminium ingots from an aircraft recycling operation were found to be contaminated with DU from counterweights that had not been segregated prior to smelting.)

The report highlights the absence of a UK disposal route for substantial quantities of DU. The BNFL site at Drigg cannot accept DU because in its undiluted state it is categorised as intermediate level waste. Whilst redundant DU components can be collected by a number of disposal services, they have either to be stored pending disposal or exported to the USA for recycling.

The report highlights the absence of a UK disposal route for substantial quantities of DU. The BNFL site at Drigg cannot accept DU because in its undiluted state it is categorised as intermediate level waste. Whilst redundant DU components can be collected by a number of disposal services, they have either to be stored pending disposal or exported to the USA for recycling.

The report is priced at £10 and is available from the Environment Agency's R&D Dissemination Centre at WRc Information Resources (01793 865000).