What are depleted uranium weapons and what are the risks? | – #depleted #uranium #weapons #risks
March 23 (Reuters) – Britain Russia said it would supply Ukraine with armor-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to help destroy its tanks, a move President Vladimir Putin said he would force Moscow to respond because the weapons had a “nuclear component.”
What are these weapons and what are the risks?
WHAT IS THIS AMMUNITION?
Depleted uranium is the dense byproduct left over from the enrichment of uranium for use in nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons.
Depleted uranium is still radioactive, but it has very low levels of the isotopes U-235 and U-234 – much less than the levels in natural uranium ore – reducing its radioactivity.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, it is used in weapons because it is very dense, ignites spontaneously at high temperatures and pressures, and becomes sharper as it penetrates armor plating—“adiabatic shear.”
USAAccording to the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity in Tennessee, “As the DU penetrator hits the target, its surface temperature increases dramatically.”
“This causes local softening and sliding of parts of the projectile surface in what are known as ‘adiabatic shear bands’. This keeps the tip sharp and prevents the mushroom effect that happens with tungsten.”
“When DU enters a target vehicle, the larger fragments tend to chew up whatever is inside, and the pyrophoricity of uranium makes the vehicle’s fuel and/or ammunition more likely to detonate.”
This means that when it even hits a tank’s armor, it cuts through it in the blink of an eye before exploding in a cloud of burning dust and metal, the rising temperature detonating the tank’s fuel and ammunition.
WHO HAS THEM?
USAEngland, RussiaDemon, France and Pakistan produces uranium weapons that are not classified as nuclear weapons according to the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons.
Another 14 states are known to have them, he says.
WHAT ARE THE RISKS?
Especially in the Gulf War of 1990-1991 and in 1999 NATOThe effects of exposure to depleted uranium weapons on the battlefields where such munitions were used during the bombing of Yugoslavia have been widely studied and debated.
About 340 tons of depleted uranium were used during the 1991 Gulf War, and about 11 tons of munitions were used in the Balkans in the late 1990s, according to a London-based fellowship of scientists.
Ingesting or inhaling large amounts of uranium, even depleted uranium, is dangerous: it impairs kidney function and increases the risk of developing several types of cancer.
Opponents of the weapons, such as the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, say the dust created by such weapons is respirable, and munitions that miss their targets can poison groundwater and soil.
USA and Britain states such as states that depleted uranium is a good means of destroying a modern tank. Britain guidance that it would be difficult to inhale depleted uranium dust enough to cause injury.
WHAT DOES THE SCIENCE SAY?
Royal Society 20In its 2002 report, it said the risks to the kidneys and other organs from the use of depleted uranium munitions are very low for most soldiers on the battlefield and those living in conflict zones.
“Under extreme conditions and under worst-case scenarios, soldiers ingesting large amounts of DU may experience adverse effects on the kidneys and lungs,” the Royal Society said.
“Environmental pollution will be highly variable, but in most cases the health risks associated with DU will be very low. In some worst case scenarios food or high local levels of uranium can occur in the water, which can adversely affect the kidneys.”
The UAE said a small number of Gulf War veterans had fragments of unprocessed depleted uranium in their bodies, causing high levels of DU excretion in urine but no observable health effects.
Studies of soldiers have shown that veterans “show a small (ie, not statistically significant) increase in death rates, but the excess is due to accidents rather than disease,” – IAEA said. “This cannot be attributed to any exposure to DU.”
A United Nations Environment Program report on the impact of depleted uranium on Serbia and Montenegro found “no significant, widespread contamination”.
Some Serbian politicians dispute this and report that the number of malignant diseases and deaths from malignant tumors is increasing in Serbia.
WHAT DID RUSSIA SAY?
Putin said that if such shells are given, then Russia will have to respond accordingly without detailing what such a response might entail. He said that the West uses weapons with nuclear components.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said the depleted uranium projectiles not only killed those targeted, but also caused “extreme damage” to those using the weapons and civilians living in the war zones.
Zakharova said that in 1999 NATO–military after the use of such munitions by the alliance, the number of cancer patients in Yugoslavia increased dramatically.
WHAT DID BRITAIN SAY?
British Foreign Minister James Cleverly said that this step does not constitute a nuclear escalation.
“We need to make sure everyone understands that just because the word uranium is in the title of depleted uranium munitions, they are not nuclear munitions, they are just conventional munitions,” Cleverly said.
A spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense said: “The British Army has used depleted uranium in its armor-piercing projectiles for decades.”
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, +79856400243; Edited by Frank Jack Daniel
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Guy Foulconbridge
2023-03-24 14:48:29
Source – reuters
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