[ RadSafe ] U.S. signs $38 million deal for depleted uranium tank shells

[Orthen, Rick]

March 3, 2006 - The Raw Story - U.S. signs $38 million deal for depleted
uranium tank shells - The U.S. Army quietly placed an order for $38
million in depleted uranium rounds last week, bringing the total order
from a West-Virginia based company to $77 million for fiscal year 2006,
RAW STORY has learned. The munition is highly controversial. While the
Pentagon has been ambiguous about its health toll, leftover rounds from
the first Gulf War are believed to have caused a significant increase in
cancer and birth defects in Iraq. According to a detailed article by the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 2002, "Many researchers outside Iraq, and
several U.S. veterans organizations, agree; they also suspect depleted
uranium of playing a role in Gulf War Syndrome, the still-unexplained
malady that has plagued hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans." The
new $38 million order was placed with Alliant Techsystems for 120-mm
ammunition. Once the new pact is completed the firm will have produced
35,000 rounds for the U.S. military.