Residents briefed on military’s depleted uranium munitions

Wednesday, March 24, 2004 | 9:04 a.m.

Nellis Air Force Base officials fielded questions from people attending an environmental assessment meeting Tuesday on what to do with depleted uranium left from live fire exercises near Indian Springs.

Most people were curious about what depleted uranium is and why Air Force officials want to clean it up from the Nevada Test and Training Range, where pilots of A-10 Thunderbolts routinely shoot roughly 7,900 rounds a year of ammunition coated with depleted uranium.

The A-10s are the only users of depleted uranium on the training range, pilot Mike Flynn said. The bullets fired from the aircraft are about the size of a human finger, he said. Loose bullets are picked up from the ground, but tanks on the range used as targets are left contaminated.

The primary radiation released from depleted uranium is so low it does not penetrate skin, but it can last a long time in the environment, Nellis spokesman Michael Estrada said.

The Nevada Test and Training Range is the only air-to-ground gunnery range in the United States cleared to use depleted uranium munitions.

The Air Force is looking at four options for disposing of the tanks, Roger Schofield, a Nellis engineer, said. They are:

There are no cost estimates for any of the options, Schofield said.

Tuesday's hearing at the Sunrise Library was the first of three. Indian Springs residents are invited to the Indian Springs Community Center from 6 to 7 tonight.

Air Force officials will meet with Pahrump residents at the Bob Ruud Community Center from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Written comments on the project can be sent to Mike Estrada, Air Warfare Center/Public Affairs Office, 4370 N. Washington Blvd., Suite 223, Nellis AFB, Nev., 89191.