  Depleted Uranium Counterweight.
This is the last of the truly iconic uranium samples I have been looking for: A genuine depleted uranium aircraft control surface counterweight. They make them out of uranium because it's very dense (so they can be small yet heavy) and because it's cheap (if you're a government that creates countless tons of useless depleted uranium as a side effect of making enriched uranium for bombs and nuclear reactors).
This thing is very small, yet weighs eleven pounds! Quite amazing, and of course also quite radioactive, though in a relatively mild way (mostly alpha). It was given to me by a person who wishes to remain anonymous, but who has my eternal gratitude. There's nothing illegal about owning such an object if you have a legitimate educational purpose (that's what the law says), but it's just not the kind of thing that you find floating around every day.
Source: Anonymous
Contributor: Anonymous
Acquired: 30 September, 2008
Text Updated: 1 October, 2008
Price: Donated
Size: 4"
Purity: 99%
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