Depleted Uranium (DU) Weapons
Hans-Peter Schnelbogl Diplom Ingenieur (Tech. Univ. Munich)
Updated 12/10/05
The Effects of DU Weapons
DU weapons have horrific effects on battlefields - eg. People being burnt to 'Crispy Critter' at 3000 to 5000 degrees Celsius. The ultimate terror is inflicted on the civilian population. 20-fold increases in cancers and birth defects are being observed in Basra (Iraq) after the use of DU weapons on the desert 'Highway of Death' in 1991.
The first increases have been observed about 4 years after the war and since then, the number of new cases has increased annually. This means there is not only an annual cumulative increase, but also an increase in the number of new cases each year. In the second Gulf War, DU weapons have been used in much larger quantities, and not only on a desert highway, but mainly in populated areas, especially in Baghdad with some 5 to 8 million people.
During Gulf War 1 the US had only some 600 casualties. By now the number of casualties from Gulf War 1 has grown to some 250,000 sick veterans, mirroring the delayed onset and gradual deterioration observed on Basra's civilian victims.
DU Weapons Are Illegal
This has been confirmed by the UN-SCPPHR in 1996 and again in 1997. DU weapons are in breach of some 10 international treaties, rulings etc.
The main conflicts with the law are:
i) their effects reach beyond the battlefield/legal target
ii) Their effects continue after the war
iii) They are unduly inhumane
iv) They have an unduly negative effect on the natural environment.
What is DU?
Depleted Uranium consists of 99.8% uranium-238 (U-238).
DU is a radioactive waste product of nuclear weapons and nuclear power production. Using DU for projectiles and bombs effectively means to dump US/UK radioactive waste on other countries. While U-238 has a low radioactivity (1240 decays/second/gram), it is very dangerous if inhaled or ingested.
Why is DU so Dangerous?
1 Uranium-238 is an alpha emitter. If an alpha-emitting particle gets inside a human body and remains there for some time it inflicts a very high dose onto the surrounding cells. The reasons are:
a) Alpha rays, which are in fact helium nuclei, have a much higher energy release than beta or gamma rays.
b) Inside the human body they release all their energy within about 35 micrometre from the emitting particle (1 micrometre = 0.001 millimetre). Assuming a cell diameter of 7 micrometre, an 'alpha disintegration track' reaches only about five cells deep. This means that a few cells close to a uranium particle are being hit with very high energies.
c) While harmful substances are usually excreted from the body within days, insoluble DU particles tend to lodge in the body for tens of years, first in the lungs, and later in lymph nodes and bones. The insolubles make up some 60% of the DU powder if it has ignited.
d) When uranium weapons impact upon a hard target then about half of the uranium is turned into a powder with a particle size from 10 micrometre down to 0.001 micrometre. Such small particle sizes can remain suspended in air for very long periods and get carried by the wind. These particle sizes are suitable for inhalation and ingestion. Particles of a diameter of less than 0.1 micrometre can also pass through the brain barrier and through the placenta (still births, birth defects, childhood cancers). A large section of the powdered DU is of such small particle size. (0.001 to 0.01 micrometre). No respiratory filter cartridges can protect from them.
2 Uranium has a specific affinity to DNA. This is a well known fact as uranyl salts were commonly used until recently to stain DNA for electron microscopy. This means uranium is attracted to the top positions in the human body to trigger cancer and birth defects.
3 Uranium is not only radioactive but also chemically toxic. Toxic effects to the kidneys are well-known. Recent studies have also shown it's damaging effects on DNA and nerve tissue.
4 Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. This means that half of the radioactivity is left after 4.5 billion years and a quarter after 9 billion years.
5 U-238 is the parent isotope of a chain of radioactive decay products. This means that the radioactivity of DU actually increases for some 300,000 years - about five-fold.
Dangers Known Since 1943
Despite contrary claims, there is ample proof that the US has been aware of the inhumane effects and illegality of DU weapons for many years. A deliberate policy of lies has been exposed by insiders. Contrary to scientific knowledge, the dose assessment from internalised alpha emitters is deliberately underestimated by up to several thousand times due to averaging the received dose over a whole organ instead of the few surrounding cells really affected. This is like having a red-hot coal put on your skin and then the doctor averaging the heat impact over the whole body's skin instead of that small spot where the coal actually burns through your skin. This way a red-hot coal on your skin is 'spin-doctored' into a pleasant chimney fire.
The earliest hint comes from 1943: At the time, the Manhattan Project (the group of scientists that developed the first nuclear bombs) sought advice on the use of finely dispersed radioactive materials for warfare. 'Poison Gas' Conant (James B Conant was previously the chair of the S-1 Poison Gas Committee) was chosen. On October 30, 1943 James B Conant and two other physicists wrote a now de-classified memo to Brig. General L R Groves, which provides the evidence:
"As a gas warfare instrument the (radioactive) material would be ground into particles of microscopic size to form dust and smoke and distributed by a ground-fired projectile, land vehicles or aerial bombs," the 1943 memo reads. "In this form it would be inhaled by personnel. The amount necessary to cause death to a person inhaling the material is extremely small. It has been estimated that one millionth of a gram accumulating in a person's body would be fatal. There are no known methods of treatment for such a casualty."
www.mindfully.org/Nucs/Groves-Memo-Manhattan30oct43.htm
They also recommended it as a permanent terrain contaminant, which could be used to destroy populations by contaminating water supplies and agricultural land with the radioactive dust. Is the US government using radioactive weapons against people just like farmers use herbicides against weeds? Are the Iraquis and Afghanis near oilfields and pipelines being exterminated - hidden by the invisibility of the fine DU dust, the high cost of adequate laboratory tests (minimum US$1,000) and by the delayed onset of the disease?
Australia's Involvement
The biggest and most notorious Australian uranium mine, Roxby Downs, SA, supplies a large proportion of its uranium to the US. The other two Australian uranium mines, Ranger NT and Beverley SA are also supplying the US.
In the past, DU battlefields have been far away from Australia. However, recently the federal government agreed for the US Navy to use a bombing range near Perth and started joint exercises with US forces in Queensland and Northern Territory. With near certainty, this will bring DU dusts to the Australian breeze, something which has triggered many cancers and unrest in Puerto Rico and other US bombing ranges which had to be closed down or are closing down.
Hans-Peter Schnelbogl Diplom Ingenieur (Tech. Univ. Munich)
Ph: (02) 6622 0243 future@nor.com.au