in Davy Crockett Cartridge, 20mm Spotting M101 Robert Cherry, PhD, - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

NRC License for Depleted Uranium in Davy Crockett Cartridge, 20mm Spotting M101 Robert Cherry, PhD, CHP President-elect (2015-2016), Health Physics Society Radiation Safety Staff Officer US Army Installation Management Command

M28 Davy Crockett Weapon System All information herein is in Public Domain  Sources   Wikipedia  YouTube  US Army Corps of Engineers, St Louis District, Archive Search Report: Use of Cartridge, 20mm Spotting M101, Davy Crockett Light Weapon M28  Army application and amendment application to Nuclear Regulation Commission (NRC) for source material license number SUC-1593 The licensing process for the M101 depleted uranium (DU) spotting  round is new and unique to both the Army and the NRC and has been troublesome to both. Nothing herein is intended as a criticism of the NRC.

M28 Davy Crockett Weapon System  Tactical nuclear recoilless spigot gun  M388 Projectile, Atomic Supercaliber 279mm  M390 Projectile, Atomic Supercaliber 279mm Practice  Deployed 1962-1968  Developed in late 1950s for use against Soviet armor and troops if war broke out in Europe  Davy Crockett M28 sections assigned to mechanized and non-mechanized Infantry battalions  M388 round used version of W54 warhead  Mk-54 weighed about 51 pounds (23 kg)  Yield between 10 and 20 tons of TNT equivalent (near minimum practical size and yield for fission warhead)  Only selectable feature was height-of-burst dial

M28 Davy Crockett Weapon System  Complete M388 round  76 pounds (34.5 kg)  31 inches (78.7 cm) long  11 inches (28 cm) diameter at its widest point  Subcaliber spigot at back of shell inserted into launcher's barrel  M388 mounted on barrel-inserted spigot via bayonet slots  Spigot became launching piston after propellant discharged  Maximum range = about 1.25 miles (2 km)  Operated by a three-man crew  Vehicle-mounted M29s eventually replaced M28s

M28 Davy Crockett Weapon System  More than 2,100 M388 projectiles produced  Poor accuracy  Nuclear weapon effects: heat, blast, and radiation  Greatest effect of M388 due to radiation  More than 10,000 rad within 500 feet (150 m)  About 600 rad at quarter mile (400 m)  About 24 rad at max range 1.25 miles (2000 m)  Warhead tested on July 7, 1962 (Little Feller II)  M29 system tested from a distance of 1.7 miles (2.7 km) on July 17, 1962 (Little Feller I)  Last atmospheric test detonation at Nevada Test Site  Videos on YouTube

M28 Davy Crockett Weapon System The following museums have a Davy Crockett casing in their collection:  Air Force Space & Missile Museum, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida  National Atomic Museum, Albuquerque, New Mexico  National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning, Georgia  Army Ordnance Museum, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland (moving to Fort Lee, Virginia)  Watervliet Arsenal Museum, Watervliet, New York  West Point Museum, United States Military Academy, New York  Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada  Don F. Pratt Museum, Fort Campbell, Clarksville, Tennessee

M28 Davy Crockett Weapon System

M28 Davy Crockett Weapon System

M28 Davy Crockett Weapon System

Cartridge, 20mm Spotting M101  Low velocity cartridge used to determine the impact point for the 279mm projectile (M28 system only)  Upon impact, M101 projectile emitted puff of white smoke  Two to three meters in diameter, two to five meters in height  Visible for several seconds  “Insured a high probability of a first round hit for the major caliber projectile”

Cartridge, 20mm Spotting M101  Highly dense material required for the 20mm shell body to mimic trajectories of M388 and M390  Tungsten alloy initially selected  Met military requirements  Costly and difficult to machine  1959 study indicated depleted uranium (DU) alloy as alternative  8 percent molybdenum (D-38 uranium alloy)  Uranium density (18.8 g/cm 3 ) comparable to tungsten density (19.6 g/cm 3 )  DU cost less than 50 percent of tungsten cost  DU easier to machine than tungsten  About 7½ inches long, weighed about a pound

Cartridge, 20mm Spotting M101  DU projectile body spec = (3,180 ± 25) grains  D-38 alloy/round: 3180 grains = 206 g  DU/round = 92% × 206 g = 190 g  Manufactured, assembled, loaded, and packed at Lake City Ordnance Plant (LCAAP) MO except fuze  Total production = 75,318 rounds  On Army ranges under NRC jurisdiction < 30,000 rounds

Original Licensing of the M101 Spotting Round License application to Atomic Energy Commission, May 1, 1961   Letter with two-page enclosure  Machine barstock at Lake City Arsenal  Distribute product to Army Field Forces  “We request … guidance on controls required for the proposed end use of the item.”  216,157 pounds (98,000 kg) of DU License # SUB-459 issued November 1, 1961   Lake City Arsenal MO and Frankford Arsenal PA  Included products in addition to M101 spotting round  Allowed distribution to Army Field Forces  Silent on “controls required for the end use of the item”

Original Licensing of the M101 Spotting Round Renewal, April 21, 1965   Lake City Arsenal no longer on license  Frankford Arsenal remains on license Amendment, October 17, 1973   Limits Army to fabrication and testing  Distribution to Army Field Forces prohibited License #SUB-459 expired April 30, 1978; does not address  decommissioning of LCAAP, Frankford Arsenal, or Army ranges License #SUB-1339 supersedes SUB-459 for Frankford Arsenal in  1978  Army asked for “storage and decontamination”  Remediation activities in 1980-1981  License expired in 1983  Documentation of license termination not found  Did not address residual M101 DU on Army ranges

Original Licensing of the M101 Spotting Round Remediation of LCAAP   Addresses demilitarization of 40,000 M101 rounds  Does not address residual M101 DU on Army ranges NRC reexamination of license terminations   GAO-directed in 1989  NRC looked at Frankford Arsenal and residual M101 DU on Army ranges  NRC determines Frankford Arsenal required additional review (i.e., data)  NRC does not determine that residual M101 DU on Army ranges required additional review NRC confirms Frankford Arsenal acceptable for release on August  18, 2003 after additional surveys and remediation

Physical Properties of Uranium (U) Metal or Alloy Density = 18.8 g/cm 3 (comparison: w ater, 1.0 g/cm 3 ; lead,  11.3 g/cm 3 ; tungsten and gold, 19.3 g/cm 3 ) Pyrophoric  Naturally occurring  Found in low levels within all rock, soil, and water  51 st most abundant element in Earth’s crust (2 -4 ppm)  Less common than tin (#49)  More common than germanium (#53), arsenic (#55), silver  (#65), and gold (#72) Typical daily intake from food is 0.1 – 1.1  g  Typical body content is about 0.1 mg  Highest atomic number (92) in nature  Radioactive (emits α ,  , and γ )  Decay series ends at lead-206 ( 206 Pb) or 207 Pb  Source (along with thorium) of all helium and radon in  atmosphere

Uranium Isotopes Isotope Neutrons Half-life (years) 234 U 142 245.5 thousand 235 U 143 704 million 238 U 146 4.468 billion Typical Isotopic Mass Abundances Isotope Natural Enriched Depleted 234 U 0.0055% 0.03% 0.0007% 235 U 0.72% 2.96% 0.20% 238 U 99.28% 97.01% 99.80% Typical Isotopic Activity Abundances Isotope Natural Enriched Depleted 234 U 48.9% 81.8% 14.2% 235 U 2.2% 3.4% 1.1% 238 U 48.9% 14.7% 84.7%

Uranium-238 Decay Series

Uranium-235 Decay Series

Primary Biological Effects Heavy Metal Chemical Toxicity Due to Intake Kidney Burden Total Kidney Intake Effect ( μ g U/g kidney) Burden (mg U) (mg) No effect 1.1 0.337 6.5 Maximum nonlethal 2.2 0.71 13 LD 50 54.8 16.79 322 Likelihood of lung cancer induction due to inhalation is presumed to be proportional to the radiation dose. Uranium Overexposure Dominant Effect Natural Approximately even Enriched Lung cancer induction Depleted Chemical toxicity

Potential Health Risks  Models, developed by National Laboratories, using environmental radiological monitoring data, show no significant potential health risks for residual DU on Army ranges  Monitoring to date indicates minimal DU migration

Uranium Oxides M101 DU oxidizes when left in the environment. The most common  forms of uranium oxide are U 3 O 8 and UO 2 . Both:  Are solids  Have low solubility in water  Are relatively stable over a wide range of environmental conditions Triuranium octaoxide (U 3 O 8 )   Most stable form of uranium oxide  Form of uranium oxide most commonly found in nature Uranium dioxide (UO 2 )   Form of uranium most commonly used as a nuclear reactor fuel  At ambient temperatures, UO 2 gradually converts to U 3 O 8

Uranium Chemistry UO 2 (NO 3 ) 2 ∙6H 2 O = uranium nitrate hexahydrate (UNH)