US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected

Subject: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: rich-joy
Date: 26 Mar 07 - 11:46 PM

I have just received this email from the local Australian DU investigator, Pauline Rigby, which details that independent overseas testing has just confirmed that, contrary to The Official Line, a number of Australian Gulf War veterans have been contaminated with Depleted Uranium.
I am personally acquainted with one of the families, and the kids and parents alike, are suffering.
Now we in Australia are also about to be literally bombarded, by US military exercises [ Talisman Sabre 2007 ] over Queensland / Northern Territory / Western Australia (check your atlas to see what a huge area this covers!)

Apologies for the long post. I am always a bit reticent to start controversial threads – Americans seem to enjoy a verbal stoush (or is it just Mudcatters?!) rather moreso than we Aussies - but please forgive me, coz really folks, this issue ultimately affects the whole planet – and its future.

R-J
Down Under


" Australian Gulf War Veterans Contaminated with Uranium

Australian service personnel who served in the Gulf during 1991 have tested positive for uranium contamination. The Uranium Medical Research Centre (UMRC) in Canada, working in conjunction with DUSK Australia (Depleted Uranium Silent Killer) has tested a representative from the Australian Navy and a representative from the Australian Army. The uranium isotope analysis on their urine was carried out at the J.W. Goethe University in Germany and confirms depleted uranium contamination.

To date, the Australian Government has not acknowledged the possibility that Australian service personnel could be contaminated with uranium. However, scientific research reveals that Iraq is highly contaminated with the radioactive fallout from depleted uranium weapons. The positive tests of these Australian veterans, reveals that they are still excreting uranium through their kidneys, fifteen years after their return from Gulf War 1.

The Australian veterans in this test case are ill. They exhibit multiple health problems from their exposure to radiological warfare. Their intimate partners suffer health problems and so do their children. The contamination of Iraq has resulted in an explosion of cancer, leukaemia and birth defects among the local civilian population.

Depleted uranium is highly toxic and radioactive waste. It is a by-product of the enrichment process that prepares uranium for use in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. This radioactive waste is denser and heavier than lead. It is manufactured into bunker busters that can penetrate deep into the earth and into the most powerful anti-tank weapons available in the arms market today.

The Australian debate about embracing nuclear power technology, has omitted the inextricable link between uranium mining and uranium weapons. The proliferation of nuclear weapons causes concern, but depleted uranium weapons, are used daily in conflicts across the world. The nuclear industry exists on the understanding that radioactive contamination is safely contained within nuclear facilities. The ethics of recycling radioactive waste into weapons and shooting it into another countries' backyard is missing from this debate. When depleted uranium weapons are fired, they immediately flare off uranium particles that can be ingested and inhaled. They lodge in the lung and other organs, irradiating the victim from the inside.

There are repercussions for all Australians now that Australian service personnel have tested positive for uranium contamination.
The Uranium Medical Research Centre is concerned about blood products and organ donations from persons known or suspected to be exposed to depleted uranium.

Uranium weapons are illegal. They fail the four rules derived from the whole of humanitarian law regarding weapons.

1. Weapons may only be used in the legal field of battle.
2. Weapons can only be used for the duration of the armed conflict.
3. Weapons must not be unduly inhumane
4. Weapons may not have an unduly negative effect on the natural environment.

Depleted uranium is radioactive for 4.5 billion years.

Therefore, uranium weapons cannot be contained on the legal battlefield, nor within the timeframe of the battle. The birth defects exhibited by babies born after the conflict and the explosion of cancers afflicting civilians, is evidence of the inhumanity of these weapons. The radioactive particles will drift across countries and around the world, contaminating air, water, soil and all life forms.

Australians are at risk at home. The Senate Hansard reveals that we have imported from the United States 34,000 depleted uranium weapons. The Australian Navy has used these weapons in training off the Australian coast. There are no records available to the public to identify 'when or where' these weapons were expended. Wind patterns at the time of the training exercises would reveal communities at risk of contamination.

In 2003 the Australian Government opened up all of our defence training areas to the United States.
There is ship to shore and air to ground bombing near Perth in Western Australia at the Lancelin Defence Training Area.
In January 2006 the United States began flying in from Guam for regular bombing of the Northern Territory. This occurs just west of Katherine at the Delemere bombing range.
The Shoalwater Bay defence training area in Queensland includes a section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. It will host the largest joint Australian US military training exercise in June :

Talisman Sabre 2007.

The Australian Government is adamant that no uranium weapons are being used, however, no testing of water and soil is being done to reassure the public that uranium weapons have not and will not be used. The Australian Defence Force has purchased the M1A1 tank that is shielded in depleted uranium. The patent of the Hellfire 11 missile reveals a "dense metal" warhead of tungsten or uranium alloy. It is being imported from the United States for use with the Australian Tiger Helicopter, currently being manufactured in Brisbane.

As a result of the uranium contamination of Australian Army and Navy personnel, it is time for Australia to rethink the export of uranium. Government safeguards assuring us that Australian uranium is only used for 'peaceful' purposes are simply an illusion of protection. Once our uranium is exported, it can be mixed with uranium from other countries. In the gaseous diffusion that separates enriched and depleted uranium, it is not possible to isolate Australia's uranium. We export uranium to the United States, the world's largest manufacturer and exporter of arms.

Estimates reveal that up to 800 tons of radioactive waste (depleted uranium) was dumped on Iraq during Gulf War 1. There is an estimate of about 1,100 tons used in Gulf War 2 and the bombing continues.

How many Australian service personnel are contaminated?
How will this affect the Australian civilian population?
It is time to take seriously the undiagnosed illnesses of Australian Gulf War veterans who have been deployed to a radioactive theatre of war.
It is time to address the sickness of their partners and their children.
It is time to look carefully at what is happening on Australia's defense training areas.
From uranium mines to uranium weapons: Has Australia's uranium unleashed a public health catastrophe? "

Pauline Rigby
Coordinator: DUSK/ UMRC project to test Australian veterans for uranium contamination
DUSK (Depleted Uranium Silent Killer) Australia http://www.dusk-qld.info/
UMRC (Uranium Medical Research Centre) Canada http://www.umrc.net/
Author: "Your Future with Depleted Uranium" http://www.mindseeds.com.au/


Previous discussions on Mudcat re DU include :
thread.cfm?threadid=92091&messages=33
Depleted Uranium ..if the expolsive don't...
and
thread.cfm?threadid=89569&messages=72&page=1#1692416
BS: depleted uranium

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: rich-joy
Date: 26 Mar 07 - 11:55 PM

there is also this site about Talsiman Sabre 2007 :

http://peaceconvergence.com/



Cheers! R-J

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 12:08 AM

"I am always a bit reticent to start controversial threads"

But when you do, it's a doozy, though.... :-)

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: dianavan
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 03:11 AM

"Estimates reveal that up to 800 tons of radioactive waste (depleted uranium) was dumped on Iraq during Gulf War 1. There is an estimate of about 1,100 tons used in Gulf War 2 and the bombing continues."

And we worried about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction and threaten Iran with economic sanctions because of their development of nuclear energy!

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: Barry Finn
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 03:25 AM

Ya, go figure! Sick ain't it. But there you go. An' we can't even square away the agent orange issue from 40 yrs ago. Now ya gonna open up this can of worms. Course it had to be those Aussies down under going around messsing about where they don't belong. Pretty soon they're gonna go & get the rest of the present team rattled an' then with all the mistreatment of the Walter Reed malcontents someone's gonna start asking more questions about "what's this gonna cost US" & "why weren't we informed about this situation & who knew & didn't tell?" You've gone an' done it now! Wait till this shit hits the fan. I'm out of here. Whoa, first Bush 1, now Bush 2 an' we're still depleating, sorry deploying, what's next? Giger counters at an international airports& subway stops?

Barry

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: Teribus
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 09:07 AM

Alarmist clap-trap.

Pssst!! Have a gander at this:

- Uranium is part of Australia's mining heritage, though only three mines are currently operating. Two more are proposed.

- Australia's uranium reserves are the world's largest, with 24% of the total. Production and exports average about 10,000 tonnes of uranium oxide (8500 tU) per year.

- Australia's uranium is used solely for electricity (Nuclear Power Stations). It is supplied under arrangements which ensure that none finds its way into nuclear weapons.

- In the five years to mid 2006 Australia exported 47,524 tonnes of uranium oxide concentrate with a value of over A$ 2.1 billion.

Well when you consider the following:

1) They are about to expand these operations by 67%;
2) That they boast that it all goes to providing fuel for nuclear reactors;
3) Depleted Uranium munitions are made from enriched uranium fuel rods that have been used up (i.e. depleted).

It could be argued quite successfully that all you are getting is your own stuff returned to you. Dig out Cobber.

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: GUEST,pessimist
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 02:07 PM

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/depleteduraniumandafghanbabies29apr06.shtml

That's a disturbing link about DU.

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: Bee
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 02:13 PM

Teribus, pissing uranium fifteen years after exposure is alarmist claptrap?

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: Teribus
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 03:04 PM

Read the WHO Report on it.

If you were of a mind to do so you could ingest this stuff by the bowl full and within 48 hours it would have passed through leaving you none the worse for wear.

How come is it that no ill effects have been noted in the environmental studies that have been conducted on the ranges where the train with this ammunition?

How come no massive incidence of illness amongst the workers who operate the machines that manufacture this stuff?

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 03:27 PM

Be that as it may, there are US defense contractors and generals alike who have recieved fortunes, honors, medals amd promotions for the development and deployment of DEPLETED uranium weapons.

Imagine taking a dangerous waste product that takes huge sums of money to store underground, and turning it into a money making commodity that disperses the dangers and multiplies the bang for the buck.

Its brilliant, or tragic, depending upon your point of view and wind position.

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 04:39 PM

10,000,000 Sony Batteries recalled 2006
22,000 Sony Batteries recalled 2004
205,000 Lenovo Batteries recalled 2007

10,227,000 Batteries in 3 major recalls, @ ~0.25 lb Li/battery = 3,056,750 pounds (1,528.38 tons) of Li "recovered" in recalls, but of course who knows what they did with the returned batteries.

NIST Market Info indicates that by 2002 more than 700,000,000 Li ion cells were produced, with approximately 200,000,000 of these being for PCs and 500,000,000 for power tools, both of which would be expected to have "large" batteries. For the last year for which data was found today, the "market" was growing at an annual rate of 3.7 percent, extrapolating to perhaps 809,200,000 cells per year by now(?).

Total 5-year production of "large" cells of approximately 3.5 BILLION (3.5*10⁹) cells, which may be expected to have produced (if discard rate equals replacement rate) 437,500 TONS of waste Li, the majority of which probably has been discarded in unregulated land fills, since Li batteries are considered "low toxicity" by most municipalities.

The Los Alamos National Laboratory, in 1955 (LA-1882: THE TOXICOLOGY OF LITH1UM COMPOUNDS) calculated that the lethal quantity¹ for a single human ingestion of Lithium was approximately 8 grams. At this toxicity level, one pound of Li is capable of killing approximately 50 persons, with the implication that there is sufficient discarded Lithium in unregulated landfills and other largely uncontrolled waste repositories to produce

43,700,000,000 deaths worldwide.

Unfortunately, once the batteries are discarded and reach the disposal sites, casualties cannot be expected to affect only "yuppies with laptops."

¹ Human data largely from a test of Li-Cl as a salt substitute for persons on low-sodium diets.

This travesty has been only minimally addressed by manufacturers or by government agencies, with the only visible result of awareness of this extreme hazard being the packaging of new Li batteries in transparent plastic packaging prominently marked with "DO NOT EAT CONTENTS."



Both the US NIOSH and Canadian occupational health agencies have fairly easily accessible hazard data sheets on commercially available DU and products made from DU. Reading a couple is suggested. The previous two threads linked in the first post here also include a fair representation of several aspects of the subject of DU munitions.

John

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: artbrooks
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 06:15 PM

There should be no question that DU can be hazardous under some circumstances, but referring to it as "radioactive fallout" or "radioactive waste" is rather excessive. The US Department of Veterans Affairs has been studying it for a number of years and has this to say about it:

DU is natural uranium left over after most of the U-235 isotope has been removed, such as that used as fuel in nuclear power plants. DU possesses about 60 percent of the radioactivity of natural uranium and is a radiation hazard primarily if internalized, such as in shrapnel, contaminated wounds, and inhalation. In addition to its radioactivity, DU has some chemical toxicity related to being a heavy metal (similar to lead).

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: bubblyrat
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 06:59 PM

Maybe so, but it still kind of pushes Global Warming to one side, doesn"t it ??

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 11:14 PM

Not if it helps cause it... :-)

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Mar 07 - 11:20 PM

"the implication that there is sufficient discarded Lithium in unregulated landfills and other largely uncontrolled waste repositories to produce

43,700,000,000 deaths worldwide.

Unfortunately, once the batteries are discarded and reach the disposal sites, casualties cannot be expected to affect only "yuppies with laptops.""


.... and thus Gaia cleanses itself of a nasty irritating surface plague...

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Mar 07 - 12:36 AM

"Depleted Uranium munitions are made from enriched uranium fuel rods that have been used up (i.e. depleted)."

... and Australia refuses to accept back the 'waste products' - we've been having a 'States Rights' bunfight for ages about where such a storage facility can be built!

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Mar 07 - 05:03 AM

"Depleted Uranium munitions are made from enriched uranium fuel rods that have been used up (i.e. depleted)."


NOT GENERALLY TRUE.

Depleted Uranium, as used for munitions and numerous commercial products, is naturally occuring uranium from which the more radioactive isotopes have been removed, resulting in a less radioactive material than naturally occuring ores.

The enriched uranium that is used to make fuel rods is the material that is TAKEN OUT OF the ores, leaving the residual DU material.

The material remaining at end-of-usefullness for fuel rods may be called "spent uranium" if you wish, but depleted uranium is NOT generally material that has ever seen the inside of a reactor.

John

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: Teribus
Date: 28 Mar 07 - 05:23 AM

Thanks for that correction John, much appreciated.

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Mar 07 - 07:29 AM

"material that has ever seen the inside of a reactor"

... contains NEW radioactive elements (created during the radioactive breakdown of uranium) that make uranium look like cold porridge...


From Wiki (no bl;ickies - just copy and paste!)

Uranium-238 (U-238), is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature. When hit by a neutron, it becomes uranium-239 (U-239), an unstable element which decays into neptunium-239 (Np-239), which then itself decays, with a half-life of 2.355 days, into plutonium-239 (Pu-239).

Around 99.284% of natural uranium is uranium-238, which has a half-life of 1.41 × 1017 seconds (4.46 × 109 years, or 4.46 billion years). Depleted uranium consists mainly of the 238 isotope, and enriched uranium has a higher-than-natural quantity of the uranium-235 isotope.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_238


Only around 0.72% of all natural uranium is uranium-235, the rest being mostly uranium-238. This concentration is insufficient for a self sustaining reaction in a light water reactor; enrichment, which just means separating out the uranium-238, must take place to get a usable concentration of uranium-235. Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors, other heavy water reactors, and some graphite moderated reactors are known for using unenriched uranium. Uranium which has been processed to boost its uranium-235 proportion is known as enriched uranium, different applications require unique levels of enrichment.

The fissile uranium in nuclear weapons usually contains 85% or more of 235U known as weapon(s)-grade, though for a crude, inefficient weapon 20% is sufficient (called weapon(s)-usable); even less is sufficient, but then the critical mass required rapidly increases. However, judicious use of implosion and neutron reflectors can enable construction of a weapon from a quantity of uranium below the usual critical mass for its level of enrichment, though this would likely only be possible in a country which already had extensive experience in developing nuclear weapons. The Little Boy atomic bomb was fueled by enriched uranium. Most modern nuclear arsenals use plutonium as the fissile component, however U-235 devices remain a nuclear proliferation concern due to the simplicity of the design.

Uranium-235 has a half-life of 700 million years.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_235

overall uranium disambiguation page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_%28disambiguation%29

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Mar 07 - 07:32 AM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enriched_uranium

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 28 Mar 07 - 08:39 AM

The real point, Foolestroupe is found in:

When hit by a neutron, it becomes uranium-239 (U-239),

Except in a nuclear reactor, or in the presence of rather high concentrations of U235, there are virtually no neutrons with sufficient engergy to produce the transition of U238 to U239 in significant amounts.

By separating the U238 from the other more energetic isotopes, the U238 by itself is rendered relatively inert. The extremely long half life means that spontaneous ejection of neutrons happens infrequently, and unless a very large mass of U238 is concentrated in a small area, most of the ejected particles simply don't hit anything.

Perfect separation of U238 and U235 is impossible, but as your article points out it's necessary to get approximately 20% U235 to even be useful as a nuclear generator fuel. The 80% U238 that remains in the fuel can be converted by the neutrons emitted by the U235 into plutonium, which of course is an ideal nuclear weapons material. This is what's meant by a breeder reactor/reaction.

To make the 0.72% U235 in the natural (refined) uranium equal to 20% of the eventual fuel quality mixture, 97% of the U238 must be removed. The 97% that's removed is what's used for DU products. Without U235, or another equivalent energetic source of neutrons, the U235 alone won't produce plutonium, or even detectable radiation much different than the background levels found in many parts of the earth.

The Wiki article describes what happens to U238 in a reactor, but the DU is separated out before that happens, and is not exposed to the environment required to produce the other nasties.

Descriptions of what happens to carbon in a high neutron flux aren't much different than the Wiki description of the U238 to plutonium transition, but that doesn't necessarily mean that your granny's greasy skillet is "radioactive," just because carbon can be made to be.

John

Subject: RE: US bombs Aust / Vets proven DU affected
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Mar 07 - 07:09 PM

Thanks John

I was just pointing to several links to enable those who wished to, to read and self educate.

There are also links to several interesting articles on 'messing up' used nuclear material, including ex-weapons grade, to be unusable without expensive reprocessing.

Far too much uneducated unscientific garbage is often thrown around in debates on highly technical scientific topics by the technically ignorant. This statement should not be seen as being against anything rich-joy posted.