Contact: Damacio Lopez
International Depleted Uranium Study Team (IDUST)
Bernalillo, New Mexico, USA
Tel: 505-867-0141
Email: idust@swcp.com

On January 17th 2001, 20 air exposure measurements were taken in southern Iraq, some 150 km south of Basrah on the DMZ road to Saudi Arabia.

Findings  are listed below:

1. In Study Area 1, 6 readings of entry and exit holes on destroyed armoured tanks were taken. Exposure rates of 60-120 counts/minute were recorded.

2. In Study Area 2, 4 readings of entry and exit holes on destroyed armoured tanks were taken. Exposure rates of 500-1945 counts/minute were recorded.

3. 4 readings of a single 30mm intact projectile were taken. Exposure rates of 2100-2450 counts/minute were recorded.

4. Background exposure rates of 7-21 counts/minute were measured in 6 control areas away from the destroyed targets.

These results indicate the presence of both low and high level radiological pollution:

Low level: radioactive waste of depleted uranium DU (U-238), which is generated from then gaseous diffusion process that produces fuel for nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.

High level: enriched uranium waste from nuclear reactors that contain U-236,  which is not found in DU.

US Air Force A-10 aircraft fired 940,000 30mm rounds of DU during combat in Iraq in 1991. When a DU penetrator strikes a target, up to 70% of the  penetrator oxidises into fumes and cigarette ash-like dust. The US military has admitted to using an overall total of 315 tonnes of DU for the weapons used during the Gulf War.

However, this new evidence suggests that supposed DU projectiles contained at least traces of enriched uranium waste. A recent United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) study in Kosovo also found traces of enriched uranium waste from supposed DU projectiles.

The study team to Iraq consisted of Damacio Lopez, Executive Director of the International Depleted Uranium Study Team (IDUST); and Ramsay Clark, former US Attorney General and founder of the International Action Center (IAC).

The radiation instrument used was a German-made hand-held MR 9511 ABX-Alert, manufactured by Muller Lehrtechnik.

Laboratory tests of the projectile must be made before further conclusions can be drawn.