That's baloney to some scientists who insist the widespread use of depleted uranium during the American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq poses a grave danger. Depleted uranium, or DU, is a radioactive by-product from the industrial process used to enrich uranium. It is the leftover uranium that results when scientists seek to transform naturally occurring uranium into uranium, which is used to produce nuclear energy.
The Army values munitions manufactured from depleted uranium because, when fused with metal alloys, they are considered the most effective warhead for penetrating enemy tanks. Also, because depleted uranium is twice as dense as lead, the Army uses DU as armor plating.
Once a depleted-uranium round strikes its target, the projectile begins to burn on impact, creating tiny particles of radioactive U Winds can transport this radioactive dust many miles, potentially contaminating the air that innocent humans breathe. This inhalation may cause lung cancer, kidney damage, cancers of bones and skin, as well as birth defects and chemical poisoning. The Persian Gulf War was the first conflict to see the widespread use of depleted uranium, both in armor-piercing projectiles and in the protective armor of the new generation of Abrams tanks.
Some 70 people are still under study for the effects of contact with DU, with particular emphasis on what happens when people breathe the air where DU projectiles have vaporized. Helen Caldicott has dedicated her life to warning about the hazards of nuclear war and the effects of DU. Born in Melbourne, Australia, she first became interested in nuclear hazards when she saw the movie "On the Beach" at the age of The film deals with a nuclear accident that leads to a global nuclear war.
Growing up, she led a movement in Australia against the French atmospheric nuclear tests in the Pacific and tried to win a ban on Australian uranium mining. She became a medical doctor and later founded Physicians for Social Responsibility, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in She also has been a nominee for the same prize.
She is a strong, vocal antiwar activist. Bush's Military-Industrial Complex," Caldicott claims that DU qualifies as a nuclear weapon because of its low-level radioactivity.
She said that huge quantities of DU were created during the Cold War when the United States made thousands of nuclear weapons. The weapons can cause enormous damage in Iraq, she said. So far, no health problems associated with DU exposure have been found in Veterans exposed to DU in friendly fire events. Researchers and clinicians continue to monitor the health of these Veterans. If you are concerned about depleted uranium exposure during service, talk to your health care provider or local VA Environmental Health Coordinator.
VA offers a variety of health care benefits to eligible Veterans. Not enrolled in the VA health care system? Find out if you qualify for VA health care. Veterans may file a claim for disability compensation for health problems they believe are related to exposure to depleted uranium during service.
VA decides these claims on a case-by-case basis. File a claim online. It is a poisonous heavy metal like lead or mercury, but only slightly radioactive. To understand why DU makes a good anti-tank weapon you have to enter the Alice In Wonderland world of high-energy collisions. When metal meets metal at five times the speed of sound, hardened steel shatters like glass.
Metal flows like putty, or simply vaporises. A faster shell does not necessarily go through more armour, but, like a pebble thrown into a pond, it makes a bigger splash. Armour penetration is increased by concentrating the force of a shell into as small an area as possible, so the projectiles tend to look like giant darts.
The denser the projectile, the harder the impact for a given size. DU is almost twice as dense as lead, making it highly suitable. The other metal used for anti-tank rounds is tungsten, which is also very hard and dense. When a tungsten rod strikes armour, it deforms and mushrooms, making it progressively blunter.
Uranium is "pyrophoric": at the point of impact it burns away into vapour, so the projectile stays sharp. When it breaks through, the burning DU turns the inside of a vehicle into an inferno of white-hot gas and sparks. Normal uranium is not as hard as tungsten. But a classified technique allows it to be hardened. This is believed to involve alloying it with titanium and cooling it so that it forms a single large metallic crystal rather than a chaotic mass of tiny crystals.
This structure is very strong and produces an improvement similar to the difference between a brittle pencil lead and a carbon-fibre tennis racquet. The final advantage of uranium is cost.
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