|
Depleted Uranium (DU) is the waste product when enriched uramium is produced for nuclear fuel. As it is radioactive waste, the nuclear industry is happy to give it away at low cost to the military. The military want it because it is 1.6 times denser than lead and therefore excellent as tank armour and in armour-piercing shells - and much cheaper than its alternative (tungsten).
DU is a heavy metal and so is as chemically toxic as any other heavy metal. It is also radioactive. This is not normally a worry when it is solid. However DU burns on impact creating tiny particles. Once inhaled, the particles are a major health hazard. These uranium oxide particles emit all types of radiation, alpha, beta and gamma, and can be carried in the air over long distances. Depleted uranium has a half life of 4.5 billion years, and the presence of depleted uranium ceramic aerosols poses a long term threat to human health and the environment.
A sub-commission of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights passed a resolution which categorised depleted uranium weapons alongside such as nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, napalm, and cluster bombs as a 'weapon of indiscriminate effect'.
DU is believed by many scientists to cause cancers and other severe illnesses and the 320 tonnes of DU used in the first Gulf War created a plague of birth abnormalities and cancers among children as well as kidney diseases. In the recent war the British and American governments reckelessly ignored these dangers - it is estimated that a staggering 1000-2000 tonnes of DU has been used.
Many organisations have warned of the dangers of DU. The European Parliament has called for a ban on DU weapons and the UN have called for immediate contamination and scientific studies. The Royal Society, furious about being misquoted by the government has stated that soldiers and civilians are in short and long term danger from DU used in Iraq, with children playing at contaminated sites were particularly at risk, and has called for decontamination and long-term monitoring of the situation.
Depleted Uranium is a weapon of mass and indiscriminate effect which we use in every war.
For more information see the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium
Also see this interview
|