Some jet aircraft eg MD use depleted uranium as counterweights.Is this an acceptable risk for passengers?

in recent madrid md 80 crash & fire there risk of ingestion of du if aircraft had du on board. people survived crash & fire, case, in severe crashes. less toxic substances available. should retro fitted aircraft?
source term
"du counterweights have been used in wide-body aircraft on rudders, outboard ailerons (wing assembly), , outboard elevators (tail assembly). counterweights come in variety of weights , shapes, , numerous weights , shapes used in aircraft. du counterweight can range in weight 0.23 77 kg."
"some aircraft used military , cargo use du counterweights; these include lockheed c-130 , c-141, jetstar, , s-3a. boeing company produced helicopters utilizing du rotor tip weight prior 1979. these weights consisted of small 0.22-kg triangular weights. 1 3 weights installed per blade. virtually of boeing helicopters manufactured prior 1979 have had blades replaced composite blades not contain du weights." [nureg-1717]
use of du counterweights in u.s. domestic aircraft aircraft type manufacturer aircraft number owned domestic carriers a,b total weight of counterweights per aircraft (kg)
dc–10 mcdonnell-douglas 168 ~ 1,000 c
l–1011 lockheed 60 ~ 680 c
b–747 boeing 202 ~ 850 d
number of aircraft owned domestic carriers members of air transport association (ata, 1999).
b reasonable estimate 50% of these aircraft still contain du counterweights. phone call j. taylor, starmet cmi, barnwell, sc, august 1999.
c phone call, e. lanchester, quality assurance department, nuclear metals, inc., concord, ma, august 1996.
d phone call, d. barbour, project manager, depleted uranium programs, philotechnics, oak ridge, tn, october 1999.
source: [nureg-1717] table 3.17.1

"in many cases, tungsten alloy counterweights have replaced du counterweights in aircraft. since 1981, boeing company has provided customers tungsten replacement counterweights, , tungsten counterweights have been installed in new boeing 747 aircraft. tungsten equivalents have been sent spares since 1981 (gallacher, 1994). in 1988, mcdonnell-douglas discontinued using du counterweights , began using tungsten. tungsten counterweights used on md–11, md–80, , md–90 (ford, 1994).
unknown how many du counterweights installed in aircraft. estimated approximately 15,000 weights may associated boeing 747 fleet (based on 550, boeing 747 aircraft produced between 1968 , 1981 , spare parts) (gallagher, 1994). however, number of aircraft contain du counterweights decreasing. rather refurbishing du (during maintenance operations), tungsten counterweights used replacement." [nureg-1717]


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aircraft workers
exposure of aircraft workers
external radiation during installation of du counterweights
"the annual dose equivalent workers responsible installation, storage, , transport of du counterweights 0.9 msv/yr (90 mrem/yr). estimated collective ede (effective dose equivalent) airline maintenance workers 0.01 person-sv (1 person-rem)." [nureg-1717. caution: source mistakenly states 0.09 instead of 0.9 msv/yr on p. 3-259]

inhalation of du dust after aircraft accident involving fire
"for fireman, ede estimated 0.3 msv (30 mrem) , clean-up worker, ede estimated 4 msv (400 mrem)." [nureg-1717]
amount of material involved 850 kg of du, on typical boeing 747 aircraft.


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aircraft crews , passengers
exposure of aircraft crews , passengers

external radiation du counterweights during flight
"annual estimated individual edes (effective dose equivalent) flight crews, attendants, , passengers 0.001 msv (0.1 mrem), 0.01 msv (1 mrem), , 1×10-4 msv (0

in recent madrid md 80 crash & fire there risk of ingestion of du if aircraft had du on board. people survived crash & fire, case, in severe crashes. less toxic substances available. should retro fitted aircraft? source term "du counterweights have...

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