[Peace-discuss] Du clean up and medical care

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doug 

UK to aid Iraq DU removal By Alex Kirby 
BBC News Online environment correspondent 
The UK Government says it will help to clean up depleted uranium (DU) 
ammunition in Iraq. 
The US has said it has no plans to remove DU debris, despite international 
recommendations for its retrieval. 
There is widespread controversy over the use of DU, which some veterans 
believe has made them ill. 
One UK adviser on DU welcomed the British announcement as evidence of a fresh 
approach. 
A spokeswoman for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) told BBC News Online: 
"Legally, we have no obligation to clean up the remains of the DU we used. 
It's the responsibility of the new regime in Baghdad. 
"But morally we do recognise an obligation, as we have in the past. We helped 
in the removal of DU from Kosovo. 
"We'll be helping in any way we can, specifically by providing money for the 
clean-up, and by making available records of where the ammunition was fired. 
Silver bullet 
"There may not always be any records, for instance where there was a skirmish 
- but insofar as we have them, we'll make them available." 
The evidence is piling up that DU is not benign at all 
Professor Malcolm Hooper, Gulf Veterans' Association 
DU, left over after natural uranium has been enriched, is 1.7 times denser 
than lead, and very effective for punching through armoured vehicles. 
When a weapon with a DU tip or core strikes a solid object, like the side of 
a tank, it goes straight through before erupting in a burning cloud of 
vapour. This settles as chemically poisonous and radioactive dust. 
Both the US and the UK acknowledge the dust can be dangerous if inhaled, 
though they say the danger is short-lived, localised, and much more likely to 
lead to chemical poisoning than to irradiation. 
Almost all the UK ammunition containing DU was fired from Challenger 2 tanks, 
the MoD says. 
It is also used in "bunker-busting" bombs, in some naval armaments, and in 
A-10 anti-tank aircraft. 
The MoD could give no figure for the amount of DU used in Iraq: one 
unconfirmed estimate suggests the total could be about 1,500 tons, five times 
more than was used in the 1991 Gulf war. 
Long-lived hazard 
A Pentagon spokesman said on 14 April he believed the US had no plans for a 
DU clean-up in Iraq. The British initiative is an unusual departure from a 
common Anglo-American approach. 
The United Nations Environment Programme's Post-Conflict Assessment Unit has 
published a report on DU contamination found in Bosnia-Hercegovina up to 
seven years after the conflict there. 
It recommends collecting DU fragments, covering contaminated points with 
asphalt or clean soil, and keeping records of contaminated sites. 
'Denied for decades' 
Malcolm Hooper, emeritus professor of medicinal chemistry at the University 
of Sunderland, is chief scientific adviser to the UK Gulf Veterans' 
Association. 
He told BBC News Online: "I welcome what the MoD has said, because it 
suggests someone may now be starting to say: 'Hang on, perhaps this stuff 
isn't as benign as we thought'. 
"And I think the evidence is piling up that DU is not benign at all. The 
inhalation of these fine dust particles represents a health hazard that was 
known to the military as long ago as 1974. 
"The ministry is right to say it has a moral duty to act. I think it has a 
legal duty as well, in the light of the child cancers and birth defects we've 
been seeing in Iraq since DU was used in the 1991 war." 
Many UK and US veterans of that war believe exposure to DU has damaged their 
health, and in some cases killed their comrades. 
They also blame it for some of the health problems seen in southern Iraq, 
though many scientists say there is no known mechanism by which DU could have 
caused the damage. 
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/2970503.stm

Published: 2003/04/23 17:53:52


http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2003/s840116.htm

Australian Broadcast Corporation News
April 25, 2003


Transcript

This is a transcript from AM. The program is broadcast
around Australia at 08:00 on ABC Local Radio.


Pressure on US to remove depleted uranium in Iraq  
AM - Friday, 25 April , 2003 08:18:00
Reporter: Nick Grimm


LINDA MOTTRAM: Well, among the many other questions
that remain in Iraq after the war is the issue of the
likely impact of depleted uranium weapons.

It's not known exactly how many of these weapons have
been used in the conflict, but it is estimated to be
well in excess of the 340-tonnes of so-called "DU
ammunition" which was used during the 1991 Gulf War. 

The United States has resisted calls for it to assist
in the clean-up and removal of depleted uranium in
Iraq. 

But pressure is building on the Coalition nations as
international experts warn that too little is known
about the lasting health dangers posed by the use of
such weapons. 

And Britain's Ministry of Defence concedes that it has
a moral duty to the people of Iraq to clean up the
depleted uranium. 

Nick Grimm reports.

[sound of shells being fired]

NICK GRIMM: As the war in Iraq has demonstrated,
depleted uranium weapons are a frighteningly effective
battlefield tool to have in your arsenal. 

Even heavily armoured vehicles like tanks offer scant
protection when hit by a shell or missile containing
depleted uranium, or "DU" as its known in military
parlance.

The weapons punch straight through thick steel before
vaporising into a chemically poisonous and radioactive
dust.

It's that dust many experts believe could then pose an
on-going health danger not only to soldiers, but to
civilians as well.

MALCOLM HOOPER: I mean there is real evidence that
this stuff is into people. It gets into people. It
stays there. And it does very nasty things to them. 

NICK GRIMM: Professor Malcolm Hooper is from Britain's
University of Sunderland and is chief scientific
adviser to the UK Gulf Veterans' Association.

Today he's welcomed an admission from Britain's
Ministry of Defence that it has at least a moral duty
to the people of Iraq to help clean up the mess left
by its DU weapons.

MALCOLM HOOPER: All the evidence is that this is very
unpleasant material. It's long-term action, it's going
to contaminate the environment for, well forever,
really because it's got a half life of 4.5 billion
years. So there's a really big problem. 

NICK GRIMM: If the depleted uranium is actually inside
the weapons that have been used to bomb Iraq, it must
have been blasted to smithereens. Now how do begin to
clean that up?

MALCOLM HOOPER: It's more than that. What happens,
when it hits the hard target you get a very fine dust
liberated of uranium oxides, very tiny particles which
can be inhaled. And it just spreads everywhere. 

I mean there's just no way of controlling it. The
material moves about from the site of the explosion.
It can be transferred 25, 30 miles. So once the
genie's out of the bottle, cleaning up is going to be
extremely difficult.

NICK GRIMM: For it's part, the United States has so
far resisted international calls for it to also clean
up its DU weapons. But pressure is building, with
respected organisations like Britain's national
science academy, The Royal Society, also speaking out.

Today, it said that Coalition forces must urgently
reveal where and how much depleted uranium was used in
the conflict so that clean-up and monitoring programs
can begin.

The Royal Society's Professor Brian Spratt.

BRIAN SPRATT: DU is radioactive and it's toxic. So
we're asking for a scientific study to understand how
much DU there is in the bodies of soldiers and also of
civilians. So if we knew what the exposures were, I
think we'd be much, much more secure in trying to talk
about what the health risks are.

NICK GRIMM: The British Ministry of Defence has
already conceded that it has a moral obligation to
assist with the clean-up. Is that an important
concession?

BRIAN SPRATT: Yes. It's, it is. We're not, we're a
scientific organisation so we're not talking about who
should do the clearing up. But we just think that
clear-up is an important thing to achieve.

LINDA MOTTRAM: Professor Brian Spratt from Britain's
national science academy, The Royal Society, speaking
to Nick Grimm. 


http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ck/Qiraq-war-britain-health.R_lF_DAO.html

British troops to be offered depleted uranium tests 


LONDON, April 25 (AFP) - British soldiers returning
from the war against Iraq will be offered tests to
check levels of depleted uranium in their bodies, the
ministry of defence said Friday.

The ministry added that it had been decided last year
to offer urine tests to military personnel returning
from deployments where depleted uranium weapons were
used.

Depleted uranium-tipped shells are used to pierce
armoured vehicles including tanks.

A defence ministry spokesman said tests would be
available to any personnel who wanted them. Around
45,000 British servicemen and women have been involved
in the Gulf conflict, of which around 26,000 have been
land forces.

Uranium-tipped weapons used by allied forces in the
1991 Gulf War have been blamed by former servicemen
for a range of debilitating medical conditions.

Coalition 'must reveal DU targets' By Alex Kirby BBC News Online environment 
correspondent 
People in Iraq need urgent advice on avoiding exposure to depleted uranium 
(DU), the United Nations has said. It wants the US and UK to provide precise 
details of sites targeted with DU weapons. The Royal Society, the UK's 
national science academy, is also demanding targeting data to enable a 
clean-up to begin. It says it is "highly unsatisfactory" to continue using DU 
without knowing people's exposure levels. The UN Environment Programme (Unep) 
expressed its concern about DU in 
a report on Iraq. It says humanitarian issues like restoring water and power, 
and cleaning up waste sites to reduce health risks, are priorities. Another 
priority activity is "a scientific assessment of sites struck with weapons 
containing DU". It wants guidelines distributed immediately to military and 
civilian personnel, and to the Iraqi people, on how to minimize the risk of 
accidental exposure to DU. Vital cooperation The report, the Unep Desk Study 
on Environment in Iraq, was prepared by Unep's Post-Conflict Assessment Unit. 
The coalition needs to acknowledge that DU is a potential hazard Professor 
Brian Spratt, Royal Society Unep said: "The intensive use of DU weapons has 
likely caused environmental contamination of as yet unknown levels or 
consequences. "Conducting a DU study would require receiving precise 
coordinates of the targeted sites from the military." The Royal Society says 
details of the DU used in Iraq are essential to allow "an effective clean-up 
and monitoring programme of both soldiers and civilians". While Unep had 
extensive experience, it said, it was vital for Iraq to acquire the 
capability to undertake long-term monitoring 
itself. Concern for civilians Professor Brian Spratt chaired a Royal Society 
working group which published two reports on DU's health hazards. He said: 
"The coalition needs to acknowledge that DU is a potential hazard and make 
inroads into tackling it by being open about where and how much has been 
deployed. "Fragments of DU penetrators are potentially hazardous, and the 
Royal Society study recommended they should be removed, and areas of 
contamination around impact sites identified and where necessary made safe. 
"Impact sites in residential areas should be a particular priority. Long-term 
monitoring of water and milk to detect any increase in uranium levels should 
also be introduced in Iraq." The society's study concluded that few soldiers 
or civilians were likely to be exposed to dangerous DU levels. But it is now 
calling for tests for soldiers exposed to "substantial" levels. No time to 
waste Professor Spratt said: "It is only by measuring the levels of DU in the 
urine of soldiers that we can understand the intakes of DU that occur on the 
battlefield, which is a requirement for a better assessment of any hazards to 
health. "It is vital that this monitoring takes place, and that it takes 
place within a matter of months." Professor Spratt called as well for 
monitoring of DU levels in a wide sample of soldiers, including "foot 
soldiers and field hospital staff across Iraq", and Iraqi civilians. He said: 
"It is highly unsatisfactory to deploy a large amount of a material that is 
weakly radioactive and chemically toxic without knowing how much soldiers and 
civilians have been exposed to it." The UK has said it will make available 
records of its use of DU rounds. It offers veterans voluntary DU tests. 
Long-lived deposits The US says it has no plans 
for any DU clean-up in Iraq. It does not test all exposed veterans. DU, left 
over after natural uranium has been enriched, is 1.7 times denser than lead, 
and effective for destroying armoured vehicles. When a weapon with a DU tip 
or core strikes a solid object, like the side of a tank, it goes straight 
through before erupting in burning vapour which settles as dust. Unep found 
DU traces in air and water in Bosnia-Herzegovina up to seven years after the 
weapons had been fired there. Story from BBC 
NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/2972613.stmPublished: 
2003/04/24 16:12:23© BBC MMIII 

[Unable to display image] 
Coalition 'must reveal DU targets' 
By Alex Kirby 
BBC News Online environment correspondent 
People in Iraq need urgent advice on avoiding exposure to depleted uranium 
(DU), the United Nations has said. 

It wants the US and UK to provide precise details of sites targeted with DU 
weapons. The Royal Society, the UK's national science academy, is also 
demanding targeting data to enable a clean-up to begin. It says it is "highly 
unsatisfactory" to continue using DU without knowing people's exposure 
levels. The UN Environment Programme (Unep) expressed its concern about DU in 
a report on Iraq. It says humanitarian issues like restoring water and power, 
and cleaning up waste sites to reduce health risks, are priorities. Another 
priority activity is "a scientific assessment of sites struck with weapons 
containing DU". It wants guidelines distributed immediately to military and 
civilian personnel, and to the Iraqi people, on how to minimize the risk of 
accidental exposure to DU. Vital cooperation The report, the Unep Desk Study 
on Environment in Iraq, was prepared by Unep's Post-Conflict Assessment Unit. 

The coalition needs to acknowledge that DU is a potential hazard 
Professor Brian Spratt, Royal Society 
Unep said: "The intensive use of DU weapons has likely caused environmental 
contamination of as yet unknown levels or consequences. "Conducting a DU 
study would require receiving precise coordinates of the targeted sites from 
the military." The Royal Society says details of the DU used in Iraq are 
essential to allow "an effective clean-up and monitoring programme of both 
soldiers and civilians". While Unep had extensive experience, it said, it was 
vital for Iraq to acquire the capability to undertake long-term monitoring 
itself. Concern for civilians Professor Brian Spratt chaired a Royal Society 
working group which published two reports on DU's health hazards. He said: 
"The coalition needs to acknowledge that DU is a potential hazard and make 
inroads into tackling it by being open about where and how much has been 
deployed. "Fragments of DU penetrators are potentially hazardous, and the 
Royal Society study recommended they should be removed, and areas of 
contamination around impact sites identified and where necessary made safe. 
"Impact sites in residential areas should be a particular priority. Long-term 
monitoring of water and milk to detect any increase in uranium levels should 
also be introduced in Iraq." The society's study concluded that few soldiers 
or civilians were likely to be exposed to dangerous DU levels. But it is now 
calling for tests for soldiers exposed to "substantial" levels. No time to 
waste Professor Spratt said: "It is only by measuring the levels of DU in the 
urine of soldiers that we can understand the intakes of DU that occur on the 
battlefield, which is a requirement for a better assessment of any hazards to 
health. "It is vital that this monitoring takes place, and that it takes 
place within a matter of months." 

Professor Spratt called as well for monitoring of DU levels in a wide sample 
of soldiers, including "foot soldiers and field hospital staff across Iraq", 
and Iraqi civilians. He said: "It is highly unsatisfactory to deploy a large 
amount of a material that is weakly radioactive and chemically toxic without 
knowing how much soldiers and civilians have been exposed to it." The UK has 
said it will make available records of its use of DU rounds. It offers 
veterans voluntary DU tests. Long-lived deposits The US says it has no plans 
for any DU clean-up in Iraq. It does not test all exposed veterans. DU, left 
over after natural uranium has been enriched, is 1.7 times denser than lead, 
and effective for destroying armoured vehicles. When a weapon with a DU tip 
or core strikes a solid object, like the side of a tank, it goes straight 
through before erupting in burning vapour which settles as dust. Unep found 
DU traces in air and water in Bosnia-Herzegovina up to seven years after the 
weapons had been fired there. 

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/2972613.stm

Published: 2003/04/24 16:12:23

© BBC MMIII