Hello ! I have a concern that I would like to share with the community here, hoping that ex-military people could answer it. I own since the age of 12 a 30mm shell casing that I bought from an A-10 pilot in an airshow. Basically he had a hockey sized bag filled with empty shells for sale. The shell casing has "30mm depleted uranium pgu-14b/b" written on it. This shell has been on top of my bookshelf since the last 12 years. I initially thought that it could've been coming from a practice round with no DU in it but I've been recently taking a look on the internet and couldn't find the answer to my question. I'm just a bit worried to end up with a cancer or have kids with a third leg on their forehead. Would pilots really sell contaminated material in a public event such as an airshow ?

I know that this is not very much related to modelling but since this community is about military stuff I though that I could ask my question here. If anyone can reassure me it'd be greatly appreciated !

Tom.

Perhaps you could call around to local schools or universities, and ask someone in the Science department if they have a Geiger counter that they could use to check your casing.
Shouldn't cost you anything more than a little of your time.

Read this if you want some background information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium

The skinny: Depleted uranuium is less radioactive than uranium used in powerplants and nukes but still radioactive. I would check if it is radioactive before putting it back on the shelf.

Thanks for the tip, I'll try to talk to someone who has access to a geiger counter at uni.

another report, doesn't sound particularly toxic. and you're talking about the shell casing correct? Not the warhead.

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/dod/du_factsheet_4aug98.htm

Correct, these were all shell casings that were already been used.

https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/rec.aviation.military/vT-IA0Kr6qg

Maybe this will help?