depleted uranium
Dense armor-piercing metal
Depleted uranium is uranium with most of its fissile isotope (uranium-235) removed, leaving primarily uranium-238.
It's a byproduct of nuclear fuel enrichment and weapons production.
Because it's extremely dense—about 1.7 times denser than lead—depleted uranium is used in armor-piercing munitions and tank armor.
Despite being called "depleted," it remains mildly radioactive and chemically toxic, raising health concerns in areas where such munitions have been used.
- penetratorSomething that enters forcefully
- heavy metalAggressive amplified rock genre
- radioactiveEmitting nuclear decay particles
- densityMass-to-volume ratio
- weapons gradeSuitable for armaments
tank · armor-piercing · shell · armor · heavy artillery · isotope · alpha particles · Kosovo · heavy · radiation shielding · metal · Pentagon · shrapnel · Iraq · nuclear · fallout · dirty bomb · spent fuel
- Anti-tankanti-tank gun, RPG, bazooka, bazookas, javelin
- heavy metalslead, gold, platinum, mercury, iridium
- uranium enrichmentcentrifuge, cascade, U-235, weapons grade, ultracentrifuge
- Armor-Piercingpenetrator, hardened steel, sabot, subcaliber, API
- Gulf War illnessGulf War syndrome, chemical exposure, pesticide exposure, oil fires, burn pits
- nuclear fuelfuel rods, plutonium, plutonium-239, spent fuel, nuclear fuel
depleted uraniumaluminum
Element thirteen
titanium · magnesium · carbon fiber · balsa wood · beryllium
depleted, replete, depletion, depleting, uranium, depletes, repletion, enriched uranium, undepleted