Depleted uranium

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Depleted uranium is the leftovers of the uranium enrichment process. Enriched uranium is used in nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium is made up mostly of the isotope uranium-238 which is mildly radioactive. It is very dense, or heavy for its size, so depleted uranium is used in armor piercing bullets and heavy machine guns. Its high density allows weapons to put more energy into a fired bullet therefore causing more damage to their targets.

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