During the Iraq War the U.S. use of radioactive DU weapons increased from 375 tons used in 1991 to 2200 tons.
The Pentagon has bombed, tortured and contaminated Iraq. Millions of Iraqis are affected. Over one million U.S.
soldiers have rotated into Iraq. Today, half of the 697,000 U.S. Gulf War troops from the 1991 war have reported
serious medical problems and an obviously related increase in birth defects among their newborn children. The
effects on the Iraqi population are far greater. Many other countries and U.S. communities near DU weapons
plants, testing facilities, bases and arsenals have also been exposed to this radioactive material which has a
half-life of 4.4 billion years.
BY DAN EDEN
WHAT IS DEPLETED URANIUM?
Remember when everyone was talking about what to do with all the spent rods from nuclear plants? Remember how they proposed to store them underground in Nevada in Yukka Mountain. Remember that we were told that the facility would have to store the nuclear waste for thousands of years in the future because that's how long they would remain deadly poisonous to all life?
Well they found a solution to this perplexing problem. What? You didn't hear about that?
Your government -- my government -- decided to dump the radioactive material on other countries. That's right, many hundreds of thousands of tons of it -- untreated and just as radioactive as ever. And they did it in our name and even used our hard earned tax money to pay for it.
And it's still going on -- today -- right now!
Depleted Uranium, or DU, is the waste material left over from the nuclear industry. A good portion of it comes from spent rods that have been used in nuclear energy plants but a vast amount of this waste DU is produced when natural uranium is enriched for use in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. Only the uranium isotope U-235 can be used in nuclear processes, such as reactors and weapons. As most of this isotope is removed from naturally occurring uranium, the remaining uranium product comprises U-238 and smaller amounts of the more highly radioactive U-235 and U-234. DU is toxic and radioactive.
DU Death Toll Tops 11,000
Nationwide Media Blackout Keeps U.S. Public Ignorant About This Important Story
By James P. Tucker Jr.
AMERICAN FREE PRESS - The death toll from the highly toxic weapons component known as
depleted uranium (DU) has reached 11,000 soldiers and the growing scandal may
be the reason behind Anthony Principi�s departure as secretary of the
Veterans
Affairs Department.
This view was expressed by Arthur
Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York,
writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter.
The real reason for Mr.
Principi's departure was really never given, Bernklau said. However, a special
report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as
the definitive cause of Gulf War Syndrome has fed a growing scandal about the
continued use of uranium munitions by the U.S. military.
The malady
[from DU] that thousands of our military have suffered and died from has finally
been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. . . .
The terrible truth is now being revealed, Bernklau said.
Of the 580,400
soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are now dead, he said. By the year
2000, there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability. More than a decade
later, more than half (56 percent) who served in Gulf War I have permanent
medical problems. The disability rate for veterans of the world wars of the last
century was 5 percent, rising to 10 percent in Vietnam.
DEPLETED URANIUM EDUCATION PROJECT
POINT OF VIEW
MILITARY ANALYSIS NETWORK - In military applications, when alloyed, Depleted Uranium [DU] is ideal for use in armor penetrators. These solid metal projectiles have the speed, mass and physical properties to perform exceptionally well against armored targets. DU provides a substantial performance advantage, well above other competing materials.
Q. What is depleted uranium?
A. Depleted Uranium is what is left over when most of the highly radioactive types (isotopes) of uranium are removed for use as nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons. The depleted uranium used in armor-piercing munitions and in enhanced armor protection for some Abrams tanks is also used in civilian industry, primarily for radiation shielding and aircraft balance control.
Q. What makes depleted uranium a potential hazard?
A. Depleted uranium is a heavy metal that is also slightly radioactive. Heavy metals (uranium, lead, tungsten, etc.) have chemical toxicity properties that, in high doses, can cause adverse health effects. Depleted uranium that remains outside the body can not harm you.
A common misconception is that radiation is depleted uranium's primary hazard. This is not the case under most battlefield exposure scenarios. Depleted uranium is approximately 40 percent less radioactive than natural uranium. Depleted uranium emits alpha and beta particles, and gamma rays. Alpha particles, the primary radiation type produced by depleted uranium, are blocked by skin, while beta particles are blocked by the boots and battle dress utility uniform (BDUs) typically worn by Service members. While gamma rays are a form of highly-penetrating energy, the amount of gamma radiation emitted by depleted uranium is very low. Thus, depleted uranium does not significantly add to the background radiation that we encounter every day.
When fired, or after "cooking off" in fires or explosions, the exposed depleted uranium rod poses an extremely low radiological threat as long as it remains outside the body. Taken into the body via metal fragments or dust-like particles, depleted uranium may pose a long-term health hazard to personnel if the amount is large. However, the amount which remains in the body depends on a number of factors, including the amount inhaled or ingested, the particle size and the ability of the particles to dissolve in body fluids.
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URANIUM WEAPONS
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