More than 42lbs of depleted uranium has been lost in the Solway Firth from an experiment which was supposed to allay public fears over the substance's effects on the marine environment.

 A special rig designed to monitor the long-term effects of corrosion on depleted uranium shells fired into the Solway Firth from the army's test range at Dundrennan in Kirkcudbright was apparently destroyed by a combination of bad weather and the movement of its own marker buoy chain.

 The test rig was installed by the government's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency - with the knowledge of Dumfries and Galloway Council - on the bed of the Solway late last year, suspended inside a steel structure and held in position by four anchors attached to the seabed.

 It was fitted with a selection of DU discs about an inch long and an inch wide. The plan was that the discs were to be recovered at three monthly intervals and analysed "to determine the interaction of DU with seawater".

 But when divers were sent down early this year to recover the DU for the first environmental checks, they found the rig had disintegrated. None of the discs, weighing 30lbs in total was recovered.

 Nor was any of the additional 12lbs of DU buried deliberately in the silt beneath the rig to discover how it was affected by the scouring of sand and grit across its surface in the tidal surges for which the Solway is famous.

 According to David Grant, the chief environmental health officer for Dumfries and Galloway Council: "A verbal report was received from Dera regarding the underwater test rig. This had been severely damaged by bad weather and none of the DU discs has been recovered.

 "I understand the rope or chain to the buoy marking the position became intertwined with the rig and caused it to fall apart. Dera are not aware of any other vessel involved in damage to the rig. We have requested written confirmation of the situation."

 The minutes of the latest council environmental health committee, which met last Tuesday, say that, despite reassurances, "there still remains the issue of public confidence and the concerns of both council officials and officials on the biological and ecological effects on the marine environment of the projectiles corroding in the Solway."

 A letter has been sent to Dera requesting further information on the location and possible recovery of all of the 6000 DU rounds known to have been fired into the Solway over the past 20 years.

 The council has meanwhile carried out its own sampling of sediment, limpets and seaweed in the Solway close to the Dundrennan range to determine the level of possible radioactive contamination. Results are expected "in the next few months".

 The army last week controversially restarted test-firing the DU anti-tank rounds on the range, despite public concern sparked by the claims of Balkans and Gulf War veterans that their health has been affected by exposure to the substance.

 DU, made from the waste product of the nuclear industry, is the most lethal weapon known against all types of tank armour. It is also 30% less expensive and 20% more effective than the nearest alternative, tungsten.

 No-one from Dera was last night available for comment.

 - Feb 26