Depleted uranium found in Florida airport, evacuation ordered

Depleted uranium found in Florida airport, evacuation ordered

rt.com

Portions of an airport in Miami, Florida have been evacuated after depleted uranium was discovered early Thursday.

Firefighters have cleared a 150-foot area of the Opa-locka Executive Airport in south Florida after a 55 gallon drum located either on or near part of a dismantled aircraft was discovered to be containing exposed, depleted uranium, NBC 6 South Florida reported.

Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Public Information Officer Arnold Piedrahita Jr tweeted that a haz-mat scene is on the scene attempting to assess the severity.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Interesting, whats going on here?

Is this some left over munitions that has happened to sit unnoticed or something more nefarious?

The article is a bit sensationalist and with respect to the source, take it with a grain of salt. The twitter update makes things seem dramatic:

#BREAKING @MiamiDadeFire hazmat crew preparing to enter hot zone to assess severity of uranium hazard #opalockahazmat

I guess if a bomb is present then this is a serious issue, but my money is on left over munitions that feel into a corner of the aircraft.

As you all know there have been a swirl of reports about supposed birth defects in Iraq in relation to the spent depleted uranium munitions used during the Iraq war. Will this developing story re-open the discussion on depleted uranium and it uses?

Edit to add Twitter update by Miami Dade Fire Department

MDFR ‏@MiamiDadeFire 12m

RT @mdfrpio: @MiamiDadeFire hazmat team confirmed uranium inside drum now monitoring levels of radiation #opalockahazmat
Expand

rt.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Well that airport is a parking spot for military aircraft.
You always see transports and fighter aircraft taking off and landing out of there. And it's been used by the CIA as well since it's close to central and south america.

So I wouldn't be surprised if someone left that there by accident.

Well, the alphabet media streams haven't posted anything yet. That train crash in Spain is more important to them right now.

Originally posted by MDDoxs

Interesting, whats going on here?

Is this some left over munitions that has happened to sit unnoticed or something more nefarious?

The article is a bit sensationalist and with respect to the source, take it with a grain of salt. The twitter update makes things seem dramatic:

#BREAKING @MiamiDadeFire hazmat crew preparing to enter hot zone to assess severity of uranium hazard #opalockahazmat

I guess if a bomb is present then this is a serious issue, but my money is on left over munitions that feel into a corner of the aircraft.

As you all know there have been a swirl of reports about supposed birth defects in Iraq in relation to the spent depleted uranium munitions used during the Iraq war. Will this developing story re-open the discussion on depleted uranium and it uses?



rt.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

edit on 25-7-2013 by MDDoxs because: (no reason given)

Depleted Uranium was used as ballast for aircraft in the rudder and wings. 1000 cubic centimeters would weigh 17 kilograms. So looks like someone just cleaned out aircraft and stuffed all the uranium in a barrel rather than paying for it to be disposed. For a Boing 747, up to 1500 kilograms are used.

www.gaia-health.com...

reply to post by stormcell

Depleted Uranium was used as ballast for aircraft in the rudder and wings. 1000 cubic centimeters would weigh 17 kilograms. So looks like someone just cleaned out aircraft and stuffed all the uranium in a barrel rather than paying for it to be disposed. For a Boing 747, up to 1500 kilograms are used.

I think your conclusions may be spot on.

But as the other post above mentioned, it could be military in origin. Well that makes for a juicer story

Errr..... Their 5 Alarm response does little to assist Uncle Sam in making a case that's been pushed for a very long time now. In fact, I'd say this kinda blows years of work right out the 'ol window.

It sure doesn't help with telling people who have been sprayed with bullets made of this, it's all perfectly fine. Nothing to be concerned with....See? Even our own Emergency people know bett......errr...nvm.

Aircraft counter weights are made of DU. It is also not harmful unless atomized.

I wish people would stop being so hysterical.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

It sure doesn't help with telling people who have been sprayed with bullets made of this, it's all perfectly fine. Nothing to be concerned with....See? Even our own Emergency people know bett......errr...nvm.

Indeed!

And to think, we utilize this bi-product of the Uranium enrichment process because of its incredible density. There are a lot, and i mean a lot of conflicting research on the haphazardness of this material.

Some scientists say radioactive level is acceptable, while people in Iraq claim its causing mutations and cancer.

Its dangerous stuff in any form in my opinion.

Evacuation? But why? Depleted uranium is supposed to be perfectly safe, just ask the military

Originally posted by projectvxn
Aircraft counter weights are made of DU. It is also not harmful unless atomized.

I wish people would stop being so hysterical.

I am guessing the HASMAT teams are just for precaution then. Does non-atomized material emit radioactivity?

I think the procedure makes sense. Crowded/busy airport and radioactivity is detected. Would be a logical place for a weapon to be smuggled in. The large shipping docks also have similar procedures if i am not mistaken.

RT.com has just pulled this off their "Breaking News Alerts".

So i presume this incident to be of mundane origins. But as some of you have alluded to, for a supposedly harmless material there has been a big fuss.

However, as I said above Airports and Docks would be areas you would not want to ignore signs of radiation as it could legitimately be a weapon being smuggled in.

reply to post by MDDoxs


I look at it this way. Give them the Erin Brockovich test on Depleted Uranium and our answer shall be clear as crystal.

If you recall the movie based on her life experience in taking PG&E down a few pegs in the California contamination case? They depicted a scene which I understand had actually happened. In one of the meetings, after watching the people defending the contamination of ground water drink their water from the glasses provided for the meeting ..she casually mentioned hexavalent chromium was in THAT water, since they seemed so casual about it being in the small town's water the whole case was about.

I do recall the movie's depiction of their reaction being almost to have a coronary from terror on the spot. ...and that shot the hell out of every claim they made with a straight face about how it wasn't harmful, in my opinion.

So...tell someone claiming DU is harmless that their burger had a slug of it or simply that something they have on their desk or nightstand..within a couple feet of them, all the time, is made of it. See how fast they turn as white as Casper the ghost bleeding right out. The truth is in the reaction, I say...and this reaction at the airport speaks as loud as a Metallica Concert, doesn't it?

The US double standards is huge in this one.
Depleted uranium in airport and evacuation is ordered, using depleted uranium in weapons overseas and nobody winks an eye.

Properties, use and health effects of depleted uranium (DU): a general overview

7.1. External exposure
Only the beta and gamma components of DU contribute to external dose. The affected organ is the skin. External exposure to DU mainly occurs during combat activities when DU aerosols are generated, or when DU fragments are picked up. The contact dose for macroscopic parts of DU is about 2 mSv/h and much less for dust. Soldiers in vehicles shielded with DU armor are externally exposed for longer time periods but at very low dose rates in the range of 1 μSv/h.

This is the most likely method of exposure unless it were to be aresolized in which case it could be ingested or inhaled.

And even in the casein external exposure, you'd have to practically rub it on you to have any major negative impact.

Still not good to leave laying around though.

reply to post by MDDoxs



Perhaps at an airport there would be more of a sensitivity to it.
But if we go nuts every time DU is detected we are going to have a pretty distracted emergency response service and for no reason.

Yes industrial DU is radioactive. But it is obvious people don't understand how radio activity works. You would need to be exposed to this stuff for constantly for decades, maybe centuries before any ill effects manifested for the exposure.

DU is used in so many different things. There's also a lot of propaganda surrounding DU. No one actually looks at the facts about it. Especially not on ats where there's always some yahoo claiming it killed someone they know without any proof. No solid connection.

Conspiracy theory on ATS is more powerful than science.

reply to post by projectvxn

Perhaps at an airport there would be more of a sensitivity to it.

There is mostly because of regulation when I worked at Louisville International Airport they freaked out over pretty much everything.

Most of the time It was nothing.

It's just the same depleted uranium they spread in the air space over Iraq, Afghanistan, and over all the troops as well.

I have friends who came back from there, sick as dogs. One of them couldn't take it anymore and blew his head off.......

This could finally be the proof that US Mil is the one spreading it

reply to post by jadedANDcynical



It's effects have been noted to be not much different than lead poisoning. And like lead, ingestion would have to be pretty great for it to not simply be passed through urine. This is not to say that DU is harmless. On the contrary, heavy metal poisoning is deadly or can be.

reply to post by projectvxn

Perhaps at an airport there would be more of a sensitivity to it.
But if we go nuts every time DU is detected we are going to have a pretty distracted emergency response service and for no reason.

I agree completely. I am not familiar with the detection process or whether or not you can determine if radiation is being emitted from DU or not. I think caution is wise with respect to sensitive areas like we have agreed on.

Yes industrial DU is radioactive. But it is obvious people don't understand how radio activity works. You would need to be exposed to this stuff for constantly for decades, maybe centuries before any ill effects manifested for the exposure.

Depending of level of radiation emitted correct? If it was a minimal amount it would take a long period of time to accumulate, but if the opposite was true, the time frame is reversed right?

DU is used in so many different things. There's also a lot of propaganda surrounding DU. No one actually looks at the facts about it. Especially not on ats where there's always some yahoo claiming it killed someone they know without any proof. No solid connection.

I agree again. From some preliminary research into, there are many conflicting reports on the material, both anecdotal and research based.

Conspiracy theory on ATS is more powerful than science.

True, but the conspiracy angle of any subject is what attract many here, as long as they are willing to listen to reason and logic, then all is in good fun.