[ RadSafe ] DU: the doomsday weapon.......

Tue Feb 15 17:11:28 CST 2011

I have also heard that DU causes pimples and insolent teenage behavior, but not 
global warming. Global warming is caused by second-hand cigarette smoke. You 
sure can learn a lot on Radsafe ;-)

________________________________
From: Doug Aitken <jdaitken at sugar-land.oilfield.slb.com>
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List 
<radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Sent: Tue, February 15, 2011 2:52:01 PM
Subject: [ RadSafe ] DU: the doomsday weapon.......

How come no one has made the link between global warming and the increased
use of DU weapons?

It's obvious to me!
;~)
Doug

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Dustin Miller
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 2:41 PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How tough is it to build a dirty bomb?

Do you think the DU is just lying around on top of the sand, soil or rock?
Just because the rounds were shot does not mean they are recoverable.  Do
you really think a terrorist will be picking through the sands of Iraq and
Kuwait to find DU for a dirty bomb.

You know...covering all that used DU, there is an estimated 10.8 million
tons of Uranium in the Middle East. (~4 tons per square mile in the top 1
foot of soil).

I think you are just trying to find a way in to rant against DU.

Since you put your two cents in...please enlighten us...or maybe just me...I
usually delete the anti-DU bantering.

Do any of the studies from the gulf war look at the whole picture of fumes
from burning oil and other potential teratogenic and/or carcinogenic
chemicals?  Or are the studies just focused on increased DU use versus
increased defects?  Has the effect of the burning oil wells and other oil
related sabotages been researched?  How has it affected the water supply in
the areas?

What is the assumed timeframe for UO3 "dust vapor and mist" to settle?  If
the tank is still smoldering after the initial hit, what experiments or
observations have been conducted to show that it is the DU and not another
item in the tank?  What are the effects of the burning fuel in the
tank/vehicle on the troops that "quickly moved in to hold those positions?"
Have these been ruled out and if so, why the burning fuel and not the DU?

Besides these empirical studies, what physical experiments have been
conducted to quantify the exposure a soldier would receive by "moving in
quickly" to a burning tank?  Also, is "moving in quickly" an SI, English, or
Babylonian unit of measure?

I understand you are very passionate about DU and its potential, real,
hypothesized, and/or assumed heatlh efffects...but please tell me why all
your eggs are in one basket that DU and ONLY DU is the cause of all of
life's problems in post war areas?

Dustin

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:
radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of James Salsman
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2011 4:53 PM
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Cc: Jim Binns; rac
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] How tough is it to build a dirty bomb?

Twenty years ago this month, the U.S.-lead coalition in Iraq shot

about 320 tons of depleted uranium, mostly as 30 mm rounds, against

targets in Kuwait and Iraq.[1] Coalition soldiers quickly moved in to

hold those positions, where the uranium trioxide dust vapor and mist

had not yet settled.

Gulf War Illness, associated with "exposure to fumes from munitions"

was first recognized in the Navy Seabees.[2] Ten years ago all combat

troops showed greatly increased miscarriage and birth defects,

amounting to about twice as many "moderate to severe" birth defects

among fathers who saw Gulf War combat, and about three times as many

among mothers.[3]

The Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses has

referred to that increase in birth defects as "modest" and has implied

that the many epidemiological studies linking uranyl exposure to birth

defects do not exist.[4] No further statistics have been forthcoming

from the Department of Defense's Birth and Infant Heath Registry,

which abruptly stopped publishing in 2002.

In 2003, between 1000 and 2000 tons of depleted uranium munitions were

used in Fallujah, Iraq.[5]  Cancers and infant mortality have since

spiked in Fallujah over nehboring Iraqi cities.[6]

During the 2008 Russian-Georgian border war, both sides had depleted

uranium weapons in their arsenals, but neither side chose to use them.

Depleted uranium weapons have since been made illegal to manufacture

or transport in Brussels, Belgium, the headquarters of NATO.

Dirty bombs have already been all too common, by the accident of

governments and health physics professionals.

[1] http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/du.htm

[2] http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/155/11/1033.full

[3] http://www.annalsofepidemiology.org/article/PIIS1047279701002459

[4]
http://www1.va.gov/rac-gwvi/docs/GWIandHealthofGWVeterans_RAC-GWVIReport_200
8.pdf

[5]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/apr/25/internationaleducationnews.armstrad
e

[6] http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/7/7/2828/

Sincerely,

James Salsman

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