Of the various really bad things that hardly anyone seems to be paying attention to, this one is high on the list. Depleted Uranium is an intentionally misleading name for U238. Depleted Uranium is what is left over when U234 and U235 (fissionable material, the kind used in bombs) are removed from naturally occurring uranium. The remaining U238 is still radioactive. It is both chemically and radiologically toxic.
Why does this matter? In the Gulf War, the U.S. fired almost a million DU rounds, leaving a battlefield littered with 1,400 wrecked radioactive Iraqi tanks, crawled over by victorious GI's who were breathing in contaminated dust. We have dumped tons of this stuff on various countries, poisoning them for all inhabitants for generations to come, and are preparing to deliver the biggest load ever in just the first few days of the conflict with Iraq. This is a WMD by any definition. As always I ask, why isn't everyone talking about it?
*sigh* I don't know. Read on for the this and that of DU.
Why we like it...
A DU round, is made from the leftover U238. The killing punch comes from the solid depleted uranium metal rod or jacket in the shells, bombs, warheads, and bullets. The DU is extremely dense (1.7 times denser than lead), conveying a lot of kinetic energy to penetrate armor. Further, U238 is a natural pyrophoric material - it flashes to a superheated cloud on impact. All of this allows DU weapons to cut through conventional armor like the proverbial hot knife through butter. We also make extensive use of U238 as armor on our own vehicles, rendering them much more resistant to more traditional armor piercing weapons. Neat, huh?
Why it really sucks...
The DOD is fond of explaining that U238 is about .7 times as radioactive as naturally occurring uranium. No problem, right? Well, if it was encountered in concentrations equal and forms similar to that of naturally occurring uranium, this would be true. In reality though, there are several factors that make DU extremely nasty to friend, foe, and civilian alike.
Sitting in a DU armored vehicle next to a rack of DU projectiles is arguably not really a problem. The problems start with the fighting. When a U238 round hits a hard target, a significant portion of the U238 payload is aerosolized. The same thing happens when U238 armored vehicles burn. These aerosolized particles can be inhaled, and ingested. They are borne away on the wind and remain in the environment for a very long time. We now have a heavy metal and a source of destructive radiation in one, nicely prepared for introduction into our systems.
This is really bad stuff. It is a WMD that can continue to inflict harm for generations after it is deployed. We like it a lot.
Tell your neighbor.