[PEN-L:5588] (Fwd) FALLOUT FEARED FROM URANIUM SHELLS

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Date sent:              Mon, 19 Apr 1999 12:35:28 -0700
To:                     [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From:                   Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject:                FALLOUT FEARED FROM URANIUM SHELLS

The Province                                            Monday, April 19, 1999

FALLOUT FEARED FROM URANIUM SHELLS

LONDON — Depleted uranium, which is included in anti-tank 
weapons and other armaments available to the U.S. and Britain in 
the Kosovo conflict, could have long term health effects on soldiers 
and civilians. 
        The U.S. has refused to say whether it has used the weapons 
but confirms it has them in the field and "picks the best weapons for 
the available target." The British defence ministry also has them in 
readiness for use on Harrier jet fighters. 
        Weapons tipped or packed with depleted uranium were used 
extensively for the first time in the Gulf War and are blamed by 
some scientists for the phenomenon known as Gulf War syndrome 
and by the Iraqis for birth defects and cancers in southern Iraq. 
        The uranium has been developed by NATO as an 
armour-piercim4 weapon because it is 2.5 times heavier than steel 
and 1.5 times heavier than lead and can be fired at high 
        A-10 Warthog shoots uranium slugs at tanks.
        
        er velocity, which causes more destruction. Depleted uranium 
has been used as a nose cone on Tomahawk cruise missiles, which 
can also contain a rod of uranium for penetrating bomb-proof 
targets. It is not thought these have so far been used in this conflict 
but the American A-10 Warthog ground attack aircraft uses 
uranium bullets for 
        knocking out tanks. The Apache helicopters. soon to be 
deployed, have the same guns. 
        Tests on Gulf veterans last year by independent Canadian 
scientists show that some have uranium in their bloodstream. 
        Henk van der Keur, a molecular biologist from the Document 
and Research Centre on Nuclear Energy in Amsterdam, said: `'lt is 
becoming more and more clear in independent studies that depleted 
uranium is the main candidate for causing so-called Gulf War 
syndrome. At first no-one took this matter seriously because it is 
not highly radioactive, but on impact uranium turns to dust and can 
be breathed in. 
        "In our view it is a serious danger long term to soldiers 
returning from the battlefield and to the civilians remaining behind 
in the war zone when peace finally returns. We think these weapons 
should be banned." 
        
— The Guardian