U.S. use of depleted uranium ammunition in Iraq

[Richard Haut]

Strange.

It was Albert Speer's defence concerning Nazi use of radioactive material that it was not to develop an atomic bomb, but in armour piercing shells.

As for the Bush - Nazi connection, find out for yourself. Your nation called it trading with the enemy, so I believe - and it could be an inherited trait.

[Architorture]

so... you don't shoot armour piercing shells at doctors or journalists or any of the other civilians you claim the US is targeting...

armour piercing shells are used on armour...which usually is found on some kind of military vehicle...so those shells were being used on tanks and such military devices... military v, military what is the problem?

[Architorture]

also you are talking as if depleted uranium is troublesome b/c of its radioactivity which isn't the case at all...

depleted uranium is like 70% as radioactive as naturally occuring uranium that is in the soil you walk on and the water you drink...

[Kevin]

It helps the discussion to include a link to the source when posting a quotation. Words and concepts may change meaning when taken out of context....

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Public Health Statement for Uranium
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/phs150.html

" Typical concentrations in most materials are a few parts per million (ppm). This corresponds to around 4 tons of uranium in 1 square mile of soil 1 foot deep, or about half a teaspoon of uranium in a typical 8-cubic yard dump truck load of soil. Some rocks and soils may also contain greater amounts of uranium. If the amount is great enough, the uranium may be present in commercial quantities and can be mined. ...

"People who work with armor-piercing weapons that contain uranium will be exposed to low levels of radiation while close to these weapons, but are not likely to take in any uranium. Those who fire uranium weapons, work with weapons with damaged uranium, or on equipment which has been bombarded with these weapons can be exposed to uranium and may wear protective clothes and masks to limit their intake. ...

"The main civilian use of uranium is in nuclear power plants and on helicopters and airplanes. It is also used by the armed forces as shielding to protect Army tanks, parts of bullets and missiles to help them go through enemy armored vehicles, as a source of power, and in nuclear weapons."

(emphasis added.)

That same interesting U.S. government information document contains this piece of contextual manipulation:

[Architorture]

richard was talking about radioactivity i was just pointing out that radioactivity isn't the problem with DU...

the problem is that it is a heavy metal...its mere presence isn't enough to cause harm in most cases... it needs to be acted upon in some way either by making it airborne and inhaling it or ingesting it through some other means...

as for your statement about radon... uraniums half life is 4.5 billion years or something in that vacinity... so DU isn't rapidly turning into radon in a lifetime time frame...more like a geological time frame

[Richard Haut]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium

[Architorture]

its a good link, but it also plays to both sides of the discussion... you have as many saying it is horrible as those saying it is harmless...

if i'm not mistaken in my reading it seems its radioactive lethality is all gone within 20 days and 1 minute... how that process is initiated it doesn't say... it would seem reasonable that that would start as soon as the DU was created?

[Kevin]

I like this part of the Wikipedia link:

"As a product otherwise requiring long term storage as low level radioactive waste, depleted uranium can be obtained cheaply. It is useful for its extremely high density, which is only slightly less than that of tungsten. As well as a lower initial cost, depleted uranium is easier to roll, machine and cast than tungsten. However, it has extremely poor corrosion properties (tending to spall on exposure to air) and since it is toxic and radioactive the facilities for processing it need to monitor and filter dust and airborne particles. One disadvantage of DU is that it needs to be correctly handled when an object containing it is scrapped. The uranium is normally leased from the manufacturer and subsequently returned at the end of the object's life."
(emphasis added)

That last part, about returning to the manufacturer - I guess that breaks down a bit when the uranium has been blown up in a shell, into airborne dust and fragments.

This suggests health problems to me:

"DU is also pyrophoric: if it penetrates steel or other metal armour, the impact and heat energy released causes it to disintegrate to dust and combust when it reaches air. Against an armoured vehicle this is devastating, piercing the hull to create an extremely hot ball of dust and gas in the interior, killing the crew and igniting fuel and ammunition."

Radioactive or not, would you like to be anywhere near an area where that's going on with heavy metals?

Under Health Concerns, the article says:

"Such issues are of concern to ... people who will live at any time after in such areas or breathing air or drinking water from these areas."

As an environmental designer, do you think that raises moral issues?