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High levels of depleted uranium (DU) have been measured in the atmosphere in Britain Transported on air currents from the Middle East and Central Asia. Scientists cited the U.S. bombing of Tora Bora, Afghanistan in 2001 and the “Shock and Awe” bombing during Gulf War II in Iraq in 2003 as one of the main reasons. In the 1950s the British government had established an air monitoring facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in Aldermaston to measure radioactive emissions from British nuclear power plants and atomic weapons facilities. Ironically, AWE was taken over three years ago by Halliburton, which at first refused to release key data as required by law. An international expert on low-level radiation, who is also an official advisor on several British government committees recently co-authored an independent report on low-level radiation with 45 scientists with the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR) for the European Parliament. Busby was eventually able to get Aldermaston’s air monitoring data from Halliburton by filing a freedom of information request using a new British law that became effective Jan. 1, 2005. Critical data from 2003 was missing, however, so he had to obtain the information from the Defence Procurement Agency. Aldermaston is one of many nuclear facilities throughout Europe that regularly monitor atmospheric radiation levels transported by sand, dust storms and air currents from radiation sources in North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. After the “Shock and Awe” campaign in Iraq in 2003, very fine particles of depleted uranium were captured along with larger sand and dust particles in filters in Britain. These particles traveled in seven to nine days from Iraqi battlefields as far away as 2,400 miles. The radiation measured in the atmosphere quadrupled within a few weeks after the beginning of the 2003 campaign, and at one of the five monitoring locations, the levels twice required an official alert to the British Environment Agency. In addition, the Aldermaston air monitoring data provided a continuous record of depleted uranium levels in Britain from other recent wars. Extensive video news footage of the 2003 Iraq war, including Fallujah in 2004, provided evidence that the United States has illegally used depleted uranium munitions on civilian populations. These military actions are in direct violation of not only international conventions but also violate U.S. military law because the United States is a signatory to The Hague and Geneva conventions and the 1925 Geneva Gas Protocol.
(Depleted uranium weaponry meets the definition of a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) in two out of three categories under U.S. Code Title 50, Chapter 40 Sec. 2302. After action mandates have also been violated such as U.S. Army Regulation AR 700-48 and TB 9-1300-278, which requires treatment of radiation poisoning for all casualties, including enemy soldiers and civilians.)
___________________________________________________________________________________ DEPLETED URANIUM ON THE NEWSWIRE ___________________________________________________________________________________
Doctors in Afghanistan say rates of some health problems affecting children have doubled in the last two years. Some scientists say the rise is linked to use of weapons containing depleted uranium (DU) by the US-led coalition that invaded the country in 2001. A Canadian research group found very high levels of uranium in Afghans during tests just after the invasion. A US forces spokesman denied its weapons were affecting the health of Afghans or the country's environment. But claims made in the BBC World Service One Planet programme suggest the invasion may have left an unwelcome legacy for the country's environment and the health of its people......Read More.... ___________________________________________________________________________________
Depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used by Nato in the mid-1990s in Bosnia-Herzegovina is still polluting air and water there, the UN reports. The UN says there is no cause for alarm, but urges precautions and regular monitoring. Its study has made significant advances in understanding how DU behaves in the environment. Pekka Haavisto, who chairs Unep's DU projects, told BBC News Online: "There are no very comprehensive cancer data, especially from the war years. "We've always said that if people did inhale the dust for several hours during an attack, you could have a health risk. "We're a bit concerned to find that we can now measure DU in groundwater, and finding the dust on artillery in the barracks was uncomfortable. "If DU is used in Iraq I think the consequences will be similar. It's something that should be followed very closely." The allied forces fired at least 300 tonnes of DU in the 1991 Gulf war alone.......Read More....
___________________________________________________________________________________ An expert on depleted uranium (DU) has raised doubts over the tests being offered to UK soldiers returning from Iraq who think they may have been exposed to the material on Iraqi battlefields.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the voluntary screening programme after concerns about the effects of breathing in the radioactive material, including a possible greater risk of cancer. Malcolm Hooper, an emeritus professor of medicinal chemistry on the British Government's DU Oversight Board, said the test, which looks for high levels of uranium in veterans' urine, would not necessarily expose DU. He told BBC Radio 4's File On 4 programme: "Uranium testing is not going to discover depleted uranium. It's not an approach that's valid scientifically."....Read More.... ___________________________________________________________________________________ *Orillasound has been against the use of nuclear weapons for over 15 years and is an active member of the Greenpeace Cyberactive Community. * The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to promote the nuclear technology that creates the very materials used to make the nuclear weapons it is mandated to stop.
* A new Greenpeace report has revealed that the full consequences of the Chernobyl disaster could top a quarter of a million cancer cases and nearly 100,000 fatal cancers. * Greenpeace and Orillasound are calling on the UN to stop promoting the nuclear industry, and focus instead exclusively on its critical mission of disarmament and world peace.
* Nuclear technology is inherently dangerous. Today, thankfully, it is also unnecessary. Our energy needs can be met with safe and efficient renewable energy technologies.
_______________________________________________________________________ International Law prohibits the use of any weapons which in any way: fails to discriminate between military and civilian targets causes disproportionate harm causes unnecessary suffering affects neutral states causes widespread, long lasting and severe damage to the environment..... _______________________________________________________________________
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Ban The Use Of Depleted Uranium In The Conventional Battlefield