Editing Uranium (section)

===Military===
[[File:30mm DU slug.jpg|thumb|left|Various militaries use depleted uranium as high-density penetrators.|alt=Shiny metallic cylinder with a sharpened tip. The overall length is 9&nbsp;cm and diameter about 2&nbsp;cm.]]

The major application of uranium in the military sector is in high-density penetrators. This ammunition consists of [[depleted uranium]] (DU) alloyed with 1–2% other elements, such as [[titanium]] or [[molybdenum]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabe.htm#TAB_E_Development_of_DU_Munitions|title=Development of DU Munitions |year=2000|work=Depleted Uranium in the Gulf (II)|publisher=Gulflink, official website of Force Health Protection & Readiness}}</ref> At high impact speed, the density, hardness, and [[pyrophoricity]] of the projectile enable the destruction of heavily armored targets. Tank armor and other removable [[vehicle armor]] can also be hardened with depleted uranium plates. The use of depleted uranium became politically and environmentally contentious after the use of such munitions by the US, UK and other countries during wars in the Persian Gulf and the Balkans raised questions concerning uranium compounds left in the soil (see [[Gulf War syndrome]]).<ref name="EncyIntel" />

Depleted uranium is also used as a shielding material in some containers used to store and transport radioactive materials. While the metal itself is radioactive, its high density makes it more effective than [[lead]] in halting radiation from strong sources such as [[radium]].<ref name="SciTechEncy" /> Other uses of depleted uranium include counterweights for aircraft control surfaces, as ballast for missile [[atmospheric reentry|re-entry vehicles]] and as a shielding material.<ref name="LANL" /> Due to its high density, this material is found in [[inertial guidance system]]s and in [[gyroscope|gyroscopic]] [[compass]]es.<ref name="LANL" /> Depleted uranium is preferred over similarly dense metals due to its ability to be easily machined and cast as well as its relatively low cost.{{sfn|Emsley|2001|p=480}} The main risk of exposure to depleted uranium is chemical poisoning by [[uranium oxide]] rather than radioactivity (uranium being only a weak [[alpha decay|alpha emitter]]).

During the later stages of [[World War II]], the entire [[Cold War]], and to a lesser extent afterwards, uranium-235 has been used as the fissile explosive material to produce nuclear weapons. Initially, two major types of fission bombs were built: a relatively simple device that uses uranium-235 and a more complicated mechanism that uses [[plutonium-239]] derived from uranium-238. Later, a much more complicated and far more powerful type of fission/fusion bomb ([[thermonuclear weapon]]) was built, that uses a plutonium-based device to cause a mixture of [[tritium]] and [[deuterium]] to undergo [[nuclear fusion]]. Such bombs are jacketed in a non-fissile (unenriched) uranium case, and they derive more than half their power from the fission of this material by [[fast neutron]]s from the nuclear fusion process.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/design.htm
 |title=Nuclear Weapon Design
 |publisher=Federation of American Scientists
 |date=1998
 |access-date=19 February 2007
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226091803/https://fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/design.htm
 |archive-date=26 December 2008
}}</ref>