Worrying!

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>d

>[cndyorks] UK radiation jump blamed on Iraq shells -

details to full report

>Sun, 19 Feb 2006 15:13:08 +0000 (GMT)

 

>

>This has just come out from green audit and the sunday times

article included. ITs worth reading the full report, rather scarry. can folk

circulate this on their other networks.

> ta

> davey - Pandora DU Research Project

>

>

> A new Green Audit report, featured in UK's Sunday Times 19th

February >2006, shows that depleted uranium from Gulf War 2 " Shock and Awe "

bombing in 2003 spread across Europe, reaching Britain within 9 days. This is

fresh evidence of the indiscriminate effects of uranium armour piercing weaponry

which make it illegal under international law (which also means Bush and Blair

are war criminals.)

>

> There are persistent reports of adverse health effects

associated with >exposure to inhalation of DU aerosols despite official beliefs

that resulting radiation doses are too low to cause any observable impact.

 

>Recent publications from a number of radiation risk agencies

indicate, >however, that the concept of " dose " is not valid for many types of

>exposure; a typical example is internal exposure to insoluble Uranium Oxide

>particles in the sub-micron range (i.e. smaller than 1 millionth of a meter >in

diameter).

 

> The risk agencies referred to here are: the International

Commission on >Radiological Protection, the European Committee on Radiation

Risk, the French Institut de Radioprotection et de Surete Nucleaire, and the

UK's Committee Examining Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters.

>

> The full report from Green Audit is at

www.llrc.org/aldermastrept.pdf

>(558 Kb). Or go to www.llrc.org and follow links to the Depleted

Uranium >pages of the site. Low Level Radiation Campaign

>

>

>

>

> UK radiation jump blamed on Iraq shellsMark

Gould and Jon Ungoed-Thomas

 

> RADIATION detectors in Britain recorded a

fourfold increase in uranium levels in the atmosphere after the " shock and awe "

bombing campaign against Iraq, according to a report.

 

Environmental scientists who uncovered the figures through freedom of

information laws say it is evidence that depleted uranium from the shells was

carried by wind currents to Britain.

 

 

>

> Government officials, however, say the sharp rise in uranium

detected by radiation monitors in Berkshire was a coincidence and probably came

from local sources.

 

> The results from testing stations at the Atomic Weapons

Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston and four other stations within a 10-mile

radius were obtained by Chris Busby, of Liverpool University's department of

human anatomy and cell biology. Each detector recorded a significant rise in

uranium levels during the Gulf war bombing campaign in March 2003.

 

The >reading from a park in Reading was high enough for the Environment Agency

to be alerted. Busby, who has advised the government on radiation and is a

founder of Green Audit, the environmental consultancy, believes " uranium

aerosols " from Iraq were widely dispersed in the atmosphere and blown across

Europe.

 

" This research shows that rather than remaining near the

>target as claimed by the military, depleted uranium weapons

contaminate both locals and whole populations hundreds to thousands of miles

away, " he said.

 

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) countered that it was

> " unfeasible " depleted uranium could have travelled so far.

 

> Radiation experts also said that other environmental sources were

more likely to blame. The " shock and awe " campaign was one of the most

devastating assaults in modern warfare. In the first 24-hour period more than

1,500 bombs and missiles were dropped on Baghdad.

 

During the conflict A10 " tankbuster " planes — which use munitions containing

depleted uranium — fired 300,000 rounds. The substance — dubbed a " silver

bullet " because of its ability to pierce heavy tank armour — is controversial

because of its potential effect on human health. Critics say it is chemically

toxic and can cause cancer, and Iraqi doctors reported a marked rise in cancer

cases after it was used in the first Gulf conflict.

 

>The American and British governments say depleted uranium is

relatively >harmless, however. The Royal Society, the UK's academy of science,

has also said the risk from depleted uranium is " very low " for soldiers and

people in a conflict zone.

 

Busby's report shows that within nine days of the start of the Iraq war on March

19, 2003, higher levels of uranium were picked up on five sites in Berkshire. On

two occasions, levels exceeded the threshold at which the Environment Agency

must be informed, though within safety limits. The report says weather

conditions over the war period showed a consistent flow of air from Iraq

northwards.

 

>Brian Spratt, who chaired the Royal Society's report, cast

doubt on depleted uranium as a source but said it could have come from

natural uranium in the massive amounts of soil kicked up by shock and

awe.

 

>Other experts said local environmental sources, such as a power

station, were more likely at fault. The Environment Agency said detectors at

other sites did not record a similar increase, which suggested a local source.

 

> A MoD spokesman said the uranium was of a " natural origin " and

there was no evidence that depleted uranium had reached Britain from Iraq.

>