title: Products of in Situ Corrosion of Depleted Uranium Ammunition in Bosnia and Herzegovina Soils.
abstract: Hundreds of tons of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition were used in previous armed conflicts in Iraq, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia/Kosovo. The majority (>90%) of DU penetrators miss their target and, if left in the environment, corrode in these postconflict zones. Thus, the best way to understand the fate of bulk DU material in the environment is to characterize the corrosion products of intact DU penetrators under field conditions for extended periods of time. However, such studies are scarce. To fill this knowledge gap, we characterized corrosion products formed from two intact DU penetrators that remained in soils in Bosnia and Herzegovina for over seven years. We used a combination of X-ray powder diffraction, electron microscopy, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The results show that metaschoepite (UO3(H2O)2) was a main component of the two DU corrosion products. Moreover, studtite ((UO2)O2(H2O)2·2(H2O)) and becquerelite (Ca(UO2)6O4(OH)6·8(H2O)) were also identified in the corrosion products. Their formation through transformation of metaschoepite was a result of the geochemical conditions under which the penetrators corroded. Moreover, we propose that the transformation of metaschoepite to becquerelite or studtite in the DU corrosion products would decrease the potential for mobilization of U from corroded DU penetrators exposed to similar environments in postconflict areas.
authors: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Environmental Microbiology Laboratory (EML), EPFL-ENAC-IIE-EML, Station 6, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Yuheng
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Environmental Microbiology Laboratory (EML), EPFL-ENAC-IIE-EML, Station 6, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Konstantin
authors: K
authors: von Gunten
authors: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Environmental Microbiology Laboratory (EML), EPFL-ENAC-IIE-EML, Station 6, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Barbora
authors: B
authors: Bartova
authors: Musée cantonal de géologie, Université de Lausanne , CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Nicolas
authors: N
authors: Meisser
authors: Federal Office for Civil Protection, Spiez Laboratory, Physics Division, CH-3700 Spiez, Switzerland.
authors: Markus
authors: M
authors: Astner
authors: Federal Office for Civil Protection, Spiez Laboratory, Physics Division, CH-3700 Spiez, Switzerland.
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Burger
authors: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Environmental Microbiology Laboratory (EML), EPFL-ENAC-IIE-EML, Station 6, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Rizlan
authors: R
authors: Bernier-Latmani
mesh_terms: D017522:Bosnia and Herzegovina; D003343:Corrosion; D012987:Soil; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium