Depleted uranium waste becomes dangerous over the course of eternity, but its metallic form has many uses in military and aviation applications because of the material’s extreme density that makes it great for shields and penetrating projectile points.
Surplus munitions, tipped with depleted uranium and stockpiled in places like Utah’s Tooele Army Depot, await permanent disposal, and radioactive-waste handler EnergySolutions is eager to accept it at its landfill in Clive, 80 miles west of Salt Lake City. But first it must secure an “emergency” exemption to Utah’s long-standing moratorium on accepting any more than a single metric ton of depleted uranium, or DU, a waste product from the uranium-enrichment process.