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Depleted uranium all over Afghanistan?

peacemonkey | 23.01.2002 17:14

While the bombing of Afghanistan continues the impacts of the ongoing war in that country will likely be felt for years to come - speculation is rising that Depleted Uranium Weapons were very likely used in Afghanistan.

Shells loaded with Depleted Uranium are the choice of the US and British military because of their armor piercing capability. On impact they leave tiny particles of radioactive dust that settles in the environment and becomes a long lasting hazard the ecosystem and human health. FSRN's Charles Michael Ray has this story on the use of Depleted Uranium Weapons and what activists, and scientists are saying about the impact of their use in Yugoslavia, Iraq and possibly Afghanistan.

For more info listen to the Freespeech Radio News report at...

peacemonkey
- Homepage: http://www.savepacifica.net/strike/

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

Other Reasons for using depleted Uranium

23.01.2002 18:30

I was discussing this with an ex-Russian serviceman a little while ago. He reckoned that this is also a great way to get around the expensive problem of safely disposing of spent nuclear fuel.

He also pointed out that the military don't have too much of a problem transporting the radioactive munitions without adequate protection for military personnel

I 'spose it's all just collatoral damage on way or another at the end of the day......

muchach01


U.S. Department of Energy websites

24.01.2002 00:23


U.S. Department of Energy websites about depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6), a product of the uranium enrichment process, suggest that military use of DU is being considered as a disposal method, and could be driving that use in part. The military says DU weapons are very useful ("useful"), which they may be given the cost of disposal, it certainly seems possible that spreading this stuff across Iraq, Serbia/Kosovo and Afghanistan would be financially very attractive.

 http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/

 http://www.em.doe.gov/uranium/

It seems there are 700,000 metric tons of this stuff, and the DOE is hoping to use conversion to military and other uses to "manage" it.

These websites only mention of military use I could find was at this webpage:

 http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/faq/mgmt/faq26.cfm

Several current and potential uses exist for depleted uranium. Depleted uranium could be mixed with highly enriched uranium from retired nuclear weapons to produce nuclear reactor fuel. This process is called blending, and, to date, only natural or slightly enriched uranium has been considered for this application. Depleted uranium is currently used for radiation shielding. Such uses can be expected in the future, and there are other potential uses as counterweights on forklifts and as flywheels. Military applications of depleted uranium include use as tank armor, armor-piercing projectiles (antitank weapons), and counterweights in missiles.

I remember seeing DOE's websites on depleted uranium hexaflouride about a year ago, and they seem much more open about military use. I could be mistaken, but the DOE may have decided to remove this information for public relations purposes.

David


grammar

24.01.2002 00:32


Ouch, sorry for the messed-up grammar in my post. I hope I got my point across.

David


Another point

24.01.2002 08:54

Another useful side effect of this is that your vanquished enemy will be too week with cancer to form another army, and the nasty birth defects will keep the population down in an unstable area.
Fucking NATO bitches.

Andy O'C


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