Do DU Munitions Pose Longterm Threat?

May 5, 2003 -- Now that the major combat of the Iraq war is over, concerns are mounting that the use of depleted uranium in allied munitions could pose long-term health hazards for Iraqis and coalition troops who served in the conflict.

"The United States took its nuclear waste and threw it at Iraq," says physicist Doug Rokke, who was a member of the U.S. military's command staff on the team sent to clean up depleted uranium following the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

"You take solid radioactive waste, throw it in somebody's backyard and refuse to clean it up. That's what we've done."

Known in the military as a "wonder metal," depleted uranium was first used in combat in 1991 during the Gulf War, where some 300 tons of "DU munitions" were fired by strafing planes, helicopters and tanks. It was used again by U.S. forces in the Balkans and Afghanistan.

DU munitions are fired by Abrams tanks, Apache attack helicopters and A-10 tank-killer planes. Depleted uranium's extreme density — it is 1.7 times as dense as lead — hardens the tips of bullets and artillery shells, allowing them to pierce the toughest enemy armor.

Munitions’ Dangerous Residue

The radiation emitted by a typical DU round is relatively slight. However, once a DU round is fired, it travels at high velocity and begins to burn in midair. Upon impact with a target, its outer layer is shed, releasing a dusty residue of radioactive particles.

Paul Walker, a weapons specialist for the nonprofit environmental organization Global Green, said an intact DU round poses little, if any, health threat.

"The only problem with it is that when it's vaporized, when it hits a target, it becomes a cloud of microscopic particles and vapors that spread all over the battlefield and can be inhaled," he said.

Rokke said he and many other members of his team have suffered serious health consequences from their exposure to DU munitions during the cleanup after the first Gulf War. Rokke said 30 members of his cleanup team have died. He also said he has 5,000 times the acceptable level of radiation in his body, and suffers from reactive airway disease due to uranium poisoning.