Sat Nov 07, 2009, 04:00 PM EST
The UN Day for the Prevention of the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict is Nov. 6 and is the International Day of Action in the campaign to ban depleted uranium (DU) weapons which are anti-tank shells.
However, the impact of a fired shell with a tank puts a cloud of radioactive and chemically toxic DU oxide particles in the air that can be inhaled or ingested. As its half-life — DU is radioactive — is over 4 million years — once in the environment, it is here to stay.
DU anti-tank shells have been used by the U.S. and the U.K. since 1991. During the First Gulf War in 1991, 320 tons of DU was dumped on Iraq, Kuwait and a little on Saudi Arabia. They have been used in the Balkans Wars of the 1990s and also in Iraq in 2003 where they were used in urban areas.
Reports from Iraq indicate increased rates of cancer, especially in children, and increased rates of birth defects that may be due to DU exposure. DU has been found to cause mutations in humans and laboratory animals and cancers including leukemia in laboratory rodents.
Nuclear Metals/Starmet in nearby Concord manufactured DU anti-tank shells for 25 years but the site is now a Superfund site. Just the demolition of the buildings on the site down to the foundations will cost more than $63 million according to a 2009 EPA estimate. The buildings are contaminated with DU and beryllium.
Overall, the depleted uranium problem is one that the public should be more aware of. There is concern elsewhere in the world. In September the Human Rights Commission of Latin American Parliament (Parlatino Americano) voted for a regional moratorium on uranium weapons and called for an international treaty on uranium weapons that the 22 member states should work on.
Belgium’s law banning uranium weapons on Belgium territory went into effect in June. Also in 2008 the UN asked its members to submit reports on DU weapons. The European Parliament has had four resolutions calling for a moratorium on these weapons.
What is the U.S. going to do?
