What Is Depleted Uranium

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Wed, 11 May 2005 13:25:11 -0700 (PDT)

Subject:What Is Depleted Uranium

 

 

What Is Depleted Uranium

 

 

CRAWFORD — The Lone Star Iconoclast last week conducted a test by

asking 20 Texans, representing all walks of life and from different

territories of the state, " What are your views on depleted uranium? "

 

 

Nineteen had no clue what the interviewer was talking about.

One offered, " Isn't that the stuff that's hauled away from nuclear

power plants? "

 

 

None knew that depleted uranium (DU) is radioactive material being

used in military ammunition and none knew that the U.S. military is

utilizing weapons to launch these nuclear DU projectiles in Iraq.

 

 

Likewise, not one of the queried Texans was aware that DU poses

significant health threats not only to Iraqis, but to Americans as

well, for the radioactivity spreads from continent to continent

through the atmosphere and is brought home through soldiers to their

families and associates.

 

 

Uranium is one of the heaviest elements found in nature and increases

in radioactivity as it decays. After enriched uranium which is to be

used for nuclear fuel is extracted from natural uranium, the leftover

nuclear waste, commonly known as depleted uranium, is stored in steel

cylinders for public protection.

 

 

Depleted uranium is heavy, cheap, abundant, and is provided free of

charge to arms manufacturers as a way of disposing of the material.

DU rounds are used in a variety of high intensity weapons and is used

in a variety of forms. Since the projectiles are so powerful, the DU

gets hot and oxides into aerosol-like particles that can be less than

10 microns or smaller than a white blood cell and are, therefore,

easily inhalable.

 

 

According to a study conducted by Iliya Pesic in a paper entitled

" Depleted Uranium — Ethics of the Silver Bullet "

 

<

http://cseserv.engr.scu.edu/StudentWebPages/IPesic/ResearchPaper.htm>,

there are serious long-term effects of DU in Iraq.

 

 

" In regions heavily hit by DU, studies have shown that numerous

civilians have extensive problems with their immune systems, malignant

cancers (such as ludicrously high leukemia rates), heart problems, and

bizarre abnormal birth defects (such as children born without eyes,

ears, tongue, etc.). In some regions, leukemia has become one of the

main forms of cancer-related death. "

 

 

Pesic continues, " Contaminated agriculture and water supplies help

spread the DU dust which continues to hurt people in diferent regions

where DU ammo was not used. "

 

 

Pesic notes that veterans and civilians exposed to DU have experienced

extensive irreversible damage to kidney and partial kidney failure.

" Cancers related to one's blood, bone, and immune system become

common. There are also various other biological effects claimed from

DU, such as chronic fatigue, respiratory problems, heart problems,

digestive organ damage (e.g. liver failure and severe rectal

bleeding), etc. "

 

 

For this edition, The Iconoclast contacted some of the top experts in

the field of depleted uranium, who agreed to be interviewed:

 

 

• Leuren Moret, a Berkeley-based geo-scientist with expertise in

atmospheric dust.

• Dr. Doug Rokke, Ph.D., Major (retired) United States Army Reserve,

former Director of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project.

• Melissa Sterry, a Gulf War veteran who is surviving the effects of

depleted uranium.

 

 

The interviews are presented in these formats: A Military Perspective,

A Scientific Perspective, and A Survivor's Perspective.

 

 

On the same subject, The Iconoclast is publishing an editorial

encouraging the Texas Legislature to provide DU testing for soldiers

who are returning from overseas, so that if problems exist, they can

be addressed.

 

A Scientific Perspective

Interview with Leuren Moret, Geo-Scientist

http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/19news03.htm

 

A Military Perspective

Interview with Dr. Doug Rokke, Ph.D, former Director of the U.S. Army

Depleted Uranium Project

http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/19news04.htm

 

A Survivor's Perpsective

Interview with Melissa Sterry, Gulf War Veteran who is surviving the

effects of depleted uranium

http://www.iconoclast-texas.com/News/19news05.htm