Disposal problems for radioactive waste? Not anymore! - depleted uranium

It has been over a decade since the end of the Cold War but the world still lives under the threat of nuclear weapons. The United States holds about 11,000 nuclear weapons, and Russia has about 19,500. Rarely mentioned in the news, thousands of these Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles remain armed, targeted and poised waiting for only a few short computer signals to fire. Almost all of these weapons are packed with Depleted Uranium (DU).

The misnamed "Depleted" Uranium is an extremely dense, toxic, and deadly metal that is left after enriched uranium is separated from natural uranium 238 in order to produce fuel for nuclear reactors. It is still radiologically hazardous, as it spontaneously burns at room temperature and, on impact, creates tiny aerosolized glass and dust particles that are small enough to be inhaled.

The United States Department of Defense became interested in using DU in the 1950s because it was cheap and available in huge quantities. Now, it is practically free for military and arms manufactures and is used in tank armor and extensively in armor-piercing shells known as depleted uranium penetrators.

Last summer, the reported radiation levels at six sites from Basra to Baghdad had 1,500 times the normal radiation levels indicating that the USA and Britain have used as much as 2,200 tons of shells made with DU during the attacks on Iraq in March and April, 2003. That's as much as 1,825 tons more than what was used in the first Gulf War. It may be too soon to draw conclusions regarding the amount of damage done due to warfare this time around, but researchers predict that the effects of DU will be enormous.

In an unsurprising display of militarism and USA unilateralism over international regulations, the USA Senate voted on September 17th, 2003 to fund action toward the development of new nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, there have been a number of disturbing reports from Iraqi doctors about the increase of cancers (particularly leukemia and childhood cancers), civilian mortalities and deformities in babies since the first Gulf War. Most reports have come from Southern Iraq where the majority of the shelling took place and many Iraqi authorities have blamed this on contamination by Western weapons, primarily those containing DU. Dr. Hudda Ammash, one of Iraq's most prominent scientists, has dedicated her life to documenting and reporting the alarming rise of birth deformations and cancer cases in the country. She was arrested and imprisoned by USA forces in May, in an effort to destroy connections between Iraq's rising health crisis and the effects of nuclear warfare.

Dr. Ammash examined various aspects of the Gulf War including the use of DU, chemical pollution, the distribution of electro-magnetic fields in the environment, and the effects of destruction of Iraq's infrastructure on public health. In her paper, Toxic Pollution, the Gulf War, and Sanctions, she wrote, "Iraqi death rates have increased significantly, with cancer representing a significant cause of mortality, especially in the south among children." Western authorities did not take kindly to her insight on the issue, and she has still not been released from prison.

Dr. Ammash is not the only person to point an accusatory finger at the use of weapons containing DU. Many other health, officials, reporters and protestors have tried to highlight the issue. Many documents exist providing critical evidence of the dangers of DU. A report written by the British Atomic Energy Authority in 1991 states, "One single particle of depleted uranium lodged in the lymph node can devastate the entire immune system." Also, a document from the USA Defense Nuclear Agency from 1992 described DU particles as a "serious health threat."

Sara Flounders, co-director of the International Action Centre and coordinator of their DU education project, points out that military planners make a great effort to hide the "numbers" of war, whether these numbers represent money or casualties. She states that the growing international movement against the use of DU must demand a clean up of toxic, radioactive waste for the people of Iraq.

Alex Kirby, BBC News Online Environment Correspondent, recently reported that, "The USA says it has no plans to remove the debris left over from depleted uranium weapons it is using in Iraq. It says no clean-up is needed, because research shows that it has no long term effects."

Dr. Asaf Durakovic of The Uranium Medical Research Centre in Toronto disagrees. He explains that the initial radiological and toxic effects of exposure to uranium will weaken the immune system causing initial headaches, dizziness and fatigue. Eventually, exposure can cause serious long term effects including cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, nerve damage, lung and kidney damage, vision problems, auto-immune deficiencies and other radiation related illnesses.

USA Army training manuals require anyone who comes within 75 feet of DU contaminated equipment or terrain to wear special respiratory and skin protection gear. The Pentagon claims that this regulation is part of monitoring procedures that were put in place after the Gulf War. Dr. William Winkenwerder, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for health affairs at the Pentagon, said that the procedure allows them to, "have a better baseline of information when people are deployed that tells us about their health, better surveillance in the field, and collection of information in a more disciplined way to look at people after they return." The Pentagon continues to insist that there are very few, if any, health risks surrounding the use of DU.

A United Nations report released in May, 2000 warned UN staff in Kosovo not to get within close vicinity of any target that might have been hit by a DU weapon. Authorities and media in Serbia, Kosovo and Albanian still fear long term DU pollution of soil, air and water.

The messages produced by mainstream media underestimate the dangers of DU, and dismiss the number of lives ruined and stolen by nuclear weapons. Fortunately, a growing number of protest groups and campaign organizations are speaking out against nuclear arms. The Global Association for Banning Depleted Uranium Weapons (GABDUW) is a large campaign group that is spread primarily throughout the USA and Japan. It is urgently working to help inform people around the world of the tragic damage caused by DU weapons in order to help prevent further attacks.

Dr. Huda Ammash's record was checked by the UN weapons inspection team, as suggested by USA intelligence, and it was decided that she didn't warrant further investigation because there was no evidence of her involvement with weapons of mass destruction.

Professor Ammash is a highly respected Iraqi scientist who trained in the USA. Since the bombing in 1991, she has been openly critical of the dire consequences of DU contamination and of the UN embargo, and actively involved with foreign delegations coming to witness the impact. In 2001 she was elected to the Iraq Supreme Council, were she expected to be able to assist in the rebuilding of her country.

It is believed that she has been added to the USA's infamous deck of cards as the five of hearts because she is articulate, internationally sophisticated and critical of the USA's foreign policy. Since April, 2003 she has been in USA custody in Baghdad.

Chelsea Jones is a Regina student and freelance writer working towards a career in journalism.

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