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Depleted Uranium: Weapon of Mass Destruction See also Related Articles, below In the 1991 Persian Gulf War, U.S. forces used depleted uranium as both armor piercing bullets and as tank armor for the first time. These weapons are both radioactive and toxic. Uranium Oxide particles formed during production, testing, and battlefield use pose a long term threat to human health and the environment. Uranium weapons are effective antitank "penetrators" because they are extremely dense. A slug of uranium weighs twice as much as a piece of lead the same size. When alloyed with titanium, uranium is extremely hard. Uranium is also "pyrophoric", which means it burns upon impact. The U.S. Military chose to develop uranium weapons not only because they are promised to be effective, but because the metal itself is very cheap. Depleted uranium is material that remains when enriched fissionable uranium- that is, capable of generating a nuclear explosion or nuclear power- is separated from natural uranium. The U.S. stockpile exceeds a billion pounds. Uranium weapons production is the nuclear bombmakers' idea of "recycling". The Agent Orange Of the 90's Depleted Uranium
is not capable of an atomic chain reaction. It is not considered a high-level
radioactive material. As a metal slab, like the armor plates in the
U.S. Army's M1 Abrams tanks, it is a relatively harmless. Though constant
exposure could cause problems. But especially in particulate form, it
can be extremely hazardous. Uranium, like lead and other heavy metals, is a chemical poison. The ingestion of minute quantities of uranium in food or drinking water can cause irreparable damage to the kidneys. Some experts consider this is a greater risk than radiation from depleted uranium. Uranium weapons
may be the "Agent Orange of the 90's" because large numbers of people,
friend and foe are being exposed to uranium oxide dust. We won't know
for 20-30 years the full significance of that exposure, but by then
it will be too late. Here are a few examples of that exposure: After the Persian Gulf War, contaminated U.S. armored vehicles were prepared for disposal in the United States. The U.S. soldiers--at least 25-- who handled those vehicles were not warned of DU hazards or wore any protective gear. Army weapons testers at the Jefferson Proving Ground in Indiana fired DU rounds at soft targets-cloth or plywood- to avoid combustion. Still, only 22,000kg of the 91,000kg fired there between 1984 and 1992 were recovered in biannual clearance operations. The Army will have to strip away several feet of soil during decontamination. This will increase soil erosion and the migration of DU. The NRC permitted
Nellis Air Force Base to receive and process up to 77,000 lbs. of DU
rounds. These rounds were used in testing on the base's Range 63 using
tanks as targets. In 1981, workers at Aerojet's TNS Uranium Weapons Plant in Jonesborough, Tennessee went on strike because of plant conditions that caused an epidemic of uranium poisoning. At Nuclear Metals Inc., which manufactures uranium weapons in Concord, Massachusetts, radioactive materials have contaminated surface water, ground water, and land. Independent testing done by Citizens Research and Environmental Watch(CREW), a local grassroots organization, found DU 18 times the background level and up to 9/10ths of a mile away. Concord has the second highest level of thyroid cancer in the state, 2 1/2 times the state average. -- Military Toxics Project
RELATED ARTICLES: Opponents Prevail
Over U.S. Gene-Busting Dirty Bombs Summer 2005, The
Pathfinder: Spring 2005, The
Pathfinder: Winter 2004 - 2005,
The Pathfinder: Dec 21 2004, from
John La Forge: Dec 20 2004, from
Nukewatch: Fall 2004: The
Pathfinder: Summer 2004: The
Pathfinder: December 14 2003,
from the Guardian/UK: December 4 2003,
from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Winter 2003-04,
from the Nukewatch Pathfinder: November 23 2003: November 22 2003,
from the Japan Times: October 2003, from
the Nukewatch Fact Sheet: October 23 2003,
from the World Uranium Weapons Conference: October 22 2003,
from ThePulse: October 6 2003,
from the Traprock Peace Center: September 21 2003,
from the London Telegraph: September 9 2003,
from Bring Them Home Now: August 4 2003, from
the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: June 27, 2003, from
In These Times: June 3, 2003, from
the BBC: May 30 2003, from
PANOS: May 15 2003, from
the Christian Science Monitor: April 25 2003, from
The Guardian: also April 25 2003,
from The Guardian: April 20 2003, from
the Stamford (Connecticut) Advocate: April 17 2003, from
The Guardian: April 16 2003, from
the Idaho Observer: March 10 2003, from
Wired Magazine: March 2003, from
Nukewatch: Spring 2003, from
the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (UK): February 16 2003,
from the Sunday Herald: January 2003, from
the University of Belgrade, January 31 2003,
from the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (UK) - January 17 2003,
from the Times-Standard: January 9 2003,
from the Seattle Times: January 7 2003,
from the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action: December 20 2002,
from the Christian Science Monitor: November 12 2002,
from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Fall 2002, from
the Nukewatch Pathfinder: March 2002, from
LeMonde: January 23 2001,
from NATO - updated February 13 2003: BIBLIOGRAPHY: |
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