Ekološko i koroziono ponašanje osiromašenog uranijuma

Abstract

Poslednjih decenija se sve više govori o 'new pollutant' - osiromašenom uranijumu (OU), koji se koristi u protivtenkovskim penetratorima zbog svoje velike gustine, prodornosti i pirofornih svojstava. Procenjuje se da je za vreme NATO agresije na bivšu Jugoslaviju 1999. god., približno 10 t osiromašenog uranijuma uneto u životnu sredinu, uglavnom na poljoprivredno zemljište. U vreme tih dešavanja je bilo vrlo malo dostupnih informacija o ponašanju ekoloških sistema narušenih ostacima penetratorima sa OU. Danas, nakon četrnaest godina, sve više se susrećemo sa 'nevidljivom pretnjom' upotrebe municije sa OU, koji ima snažan radioaktivni i hemotoksični uticaj na ljudsko zdravlje. Ovaj rad pruža pregled korozionog i ekološkog ponašanja OU, zajedno sa indikatorima uticaja na životnu sredinu, sa ciljem da se istaknu oblasti koje zahtevaju dodatnu pažnju u izradi remedijacionih programa.

Environmental pollution with radionuclides, particularly uranium and its decay products is a serious global problem. The current scientific studies estimated that the contamination originating from TENORM, caused by nuclear and non-nuclear technologies, has significantly increased natural level of radioactivity in the last thirty years. During the last decades all the more were talking about the 'new pollutant' - depleted uranium (DU), which has been used in anti-tank penetrators because of its high density, penetration and pyrophoric properties. It is estimated that during the Gulf War, the war in Bosnia and Yugoslavia and during the invasion of Iraq, 1.4 million missiles with depleted uranium was fired. During the NATO aggression against the ex Yugoslavia in 1999, 112 locations in Kosovo and Metohija, 12 locations in southern Serbia and two locations in Montenegro were bombed. On this occasion, approximately 10 tons of depleted uranium were entered into the environment, mainly on land, where the degree of contamination ranged from 200 to 235000 Bq/kg, which is up to 1000 times higher than the natural level. Fourteen years ago there was very little information about the behavior of ecological systems damaged by DU penetrators fired. Today, unfortunately, we are increasingly faced with the 'invisible threat' of depleted uranium, which has a strong radioactive and hemotoxic impact on human health. Present paper provides a detailed overview of the current understanding of corrosion and corrosion behavior of DU and environmental factors that control corrosion, together with indicators of environmental impact in order to highlight areas that need further attention in developing remediation programs.