There is a lot of concern about the fine particles of uranium generated by armour-piercing shells which has been implicated in various health effects, for example after the Gulf wars.  You probably wouldn’t want to grind such a tool even if you could get hold of it!

I think if you were inside the tank hit by a depleted uranium loaded shell particulates would be the least of your worries.

On 6 August 2024 at 12:44 duncan webster 1 Said:

I think if you were inside the tank hit by a depleted uranium loaded shell particulates would be the least of your worries.

Indeed, but the dust affects other people and civilians after the conflict.  Thorium is much less active I believe.

Thorium is only half the density of uranium, so not as useful for making heavy shells.

The density is uraniums main attribute, together with the large quantity of 238 left over when enriching which has very few uses. It was used in balance weights on older helicopter blades, the discs were cad plated to reduce the corrosion. Tungsten has lots of uses in addition to carbide form, particularly when sintered with iron, where it can be machined easily for balance weights and radiation shielding.

Over the years, pretty much every combination of metals has been tried out as alloys in the search for useful characteristics, many have short lifespans before they become obsolete. Thorium, for instance was used in early gas turbines alloyed with aluminium to give the metal greater strength at elevated temperatures, modern alloys have left it back in the dark ages.