Cruise missiles reportedly carry DU as ballast.
Depleted Uranium Tempest Involves Asia, Caribbean
http://www.stripes.com/servlet/News/ViewArticle?articleId=100033635&buildId=100033678&frontpageId=-1

Nov 2, 2000
Dave Eberhart
Stars and Stripes Veterans Affairs Editor

Part IV in a Series

In 1980, the National Lead Industries plant in Colonie, N.Y., was closed by the state for releasing depleted uranium (DU) dust into the air around Albany, N.Y.--an amount approximately 700,000 times less than that released a decade later during Operation Desert Storm.

The plant, according to the National Gulf War Resource Center's Military Toxics Project, manufactured depleted uranium "penetrators" for the Defense Department.

DU-hardened shells, which have enhanced armor-piercing qualities, were used extensively in the Gulf War and later in the Yugoslavia bombing campaign. Every cruise missile contains DU ballast that on impact becomes tiny particles of uranium glass. If inhaled, such particles can remain in the body for 10 years or more.

In August 1997, the U.S. military moved all its DU bullets in Okinawa to South Korea, closer to a "potential battlefield," Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon explained at the time.

But there were doubts about the reason for the transfer. The firing of more than 1,500 DU bullets on Torishima, about 60 miles northwest of Okinawa, had fueled anti-U.S. base sentiment on the island prefecture. It also angered Japan's central government, as Washington had not informed Tokyo about the firing, which occurred as part of military drills in late 1995 and early 1996 -- until early 1997.

'Clearly Controversial'

At the time, Bacon said there was "no evidence" that DU-treated ammunition had threatened the health of U.S. troops in the 1991 Gulf War. But he admitted that it was "a controversial weapon" and that Washington had reached no conclusion about possible links between DU and various ailments, collectively called Gulf War syndrome, suffered by U.S. soldiers who were deployed.

South Korea was not happy about being tapped as a dumping ground for the DU weapons. And about two years later, even the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico rebelled against the use of DU weapons on its soil.

On March 5, 1999, the U.S. Navy notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that two Marine Corps planes had fired 263 DU rounds at a firing range on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico, during a training exercise on Feb. 19, 1999. The Navy said a team of Navy health physicists recovered 57 DU rounds on the island between March 10 and March 19, 1999.

Only part of the site was investigated because of unexploded conventional ordnance and dense vegetation. The Navy made plans to recover all detectable DU penetrators and conduct "a final status survey."

By June 16, 2000, the Navy had recovered approximately 37 penetrators. NRC inspectors closely observed the recovery activities and its staff, with the Puerto Rico Department of Health, obtained environmental samples from the island.

Fraction of Troops Tested

According to the Pentagon, 400,000 U.S. veterans were potentially exposed to DU during the Gulf War. DoD acknowledged that, as late as seven years after the war, it had tested just 36 of all the U.S. troops sent to the Gulf for DU contamination.

About 200,000 Gulf War veterans have sought medical care and about 115,000 have been diagnosed with Gulf War syndrome.

In 1996, the Human Rights Tribunal in Geneva condemned the use of DU in warfare, calling it "a weapon of mass destruction."

Since 1998, Dan Fahey of the Military Toxics Project has been urging that:

Congress should immediately investigate whether U.S. forces currently deployed in the Persian Gulf region have been trained about DU safety measures, issued appropriate protective equipment and provided with radiacmeters to detect contamination. Congress also should investigate whether the military is prepared to test all veterans with known or suspected DU exposure, as called for in Army Regulation 40-5.

A non-governmental body with no ties to the Pentagon, VA or Energy Department should be funded by Congress to conduct a thorough investigation of all Gulf War hazardous exposures, including DU, and make recommendations on research on the health effects of depleted uranium and anti-armor alternatives to DU penetrators.

All Gulf War veterans exposed to DU-contaminated areas and equipment should receive letters from the Pentagon confirming their exposure similar to letters provided to members of the 144th New Jersey National Guard Service and Supply Company. These "confirmation of depleted uranium exposure" letters should be provided to anyone who was in the Kuwaiti theater of operations from August 1990 to the present.

All Gulf War veterans, their families and civilians with known or suspected DU exposure should be automatically provided with medical care and disability benefits if they develop the known health effects of internal or external DU exposure.

An independent body of experts with no governmental ties should review the protocol for the Depleted Uranium Program, including the current use of 24-hour urine tests to screen Gulf veterans for exposure.

The Pentagon should immediately begin training all military personnel, regardless of occupational specialty, in the use of DU munitions and required safety procedures relating to contact with contaminated personnel or equipment.

An international organization should investigate and identify all nations possessing, developing, testing, selling or using DU munitions and all locations known to be contaminated.

An body with no ties to the Pentagon, VA, Energy Department or the British Ministry of Defense should undertake a cost-benefit analysis of DU munitions comparing the necessity of DU penetrators against the availability of alternative weapons; the costs of testing all military personnel potentially exposed to DU in future conflicts; the costs of long-term medical care and disability benefits for persons exposed; the effect on battle readiness posed by the need for troops to wear protective suits and masks in DU-contaminated areas, and the costs of cleaning contaminated areas and equipment.

An independent international organization should investigate the health situation in Kuwait and Iraq and analyze the connection between health problems in those countries and the health problems affecting more than 100,000 Gulf veterans and their families. Such an analysis should include a comprehensive radiological survey and risk assessment of Gulf War battlefields, which until now not been conducted.

"In a demonstration of true leadership and vision," the United States should lead "an international effort to ban the production, stockpiling, testing, sale and use of depleted uranium penetrators."

Please post your comments below or email David Eberhart at
deberhart@stripes.com

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