DU is Safe

["Mercado, Don" <don.mercado@lmco.com>]

50 Nations See No Depleted Uranium Illness 

      By Douglas Hamilton

      BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A committee of 50 nations hastily set up by NATO
(news - web sites) two weeks ago
      has found no evidence so far to support claims that depleted uranium
(DU) munitions can cause cancer, NATO
      said on Wednesday.

      Soldiers who served as peacekeepers in the NATO-led missions in Bosnia
and Kosovo -- where U.S. aircraft
      fired some 40,000 DU shells -- were no sicker than those who had not,
committee chairman Daniel Speckhard
      told a news conference.

      NATO spokesman Mark Laity said it was ``quite possible'' that tiny
traces of highly radioactive plutonium and
      uranium 236 would turn up in Balkans soil samples now being taken or
analyzed by international experts.

      ``We're not predicting it...we will not be surprised, neither will we
be worried,'' he said, stressing that scientific
      evidence showed the traces were too small to ``add in any way to the
existing low-level health risk.''

      Risk Of Political Heart Attack

      The toxic chemical effects of DU, a heavy metal used for its
armor-piercing capability, could cause kidney
      problems if its dust were ingested in sufficient quantities.

      Mere mention of plutonium contamination, however, can trigger
political heart attacks among some of Europe's
      most environmentally sensitive governments.

      On Tuesday, in a bid to help European allies allay public fears, a
Pentagon (news - web sites) spokesman said
      plutonium traces got into DU rounds made 30 years ago because of
contaminated equipment at a nuclear plant,
      but amounts were incredibly small and harmless.

      Plutonium and U-236 would still be in America's DU munitions today, he
said, because no new stocks were
      made since the 1970s.

      In Athens, NATO's Supreme Commander Europe, U.S. Air Force General
Joseph Ralston, said he would not
      hesitate to authorize firing DU rounds ``tonight,'' in the unlikely
event that peacekeepers or civilians in Kosovo
      faced a tank attack.

      NATO says there is simply no evidence that DU's weak radioactivity can
cause cancer. This is questioned by
      some recent studies which suggest ingested DU emits alpha radiation
that can cause significant damage to cells.

      ``To date no nation has found evidence of an increase in the incidence
of illness among peacekeepers in the
      Balkans compared with the incidence of illness among armed forces not
serving in the Balkans,'' Speckhard
      said.

      ``None of the nations reported finding a health link between health
complaints of personnel employed in the
      Balkans and depleted uranium munitions,'' he added.

      Tuesday's standing-room-only meeting of the committee reinforced the
report issued last week by NATO's top
      military medical officers showing no link to cancer, but the committee
would continue meeting weekly as
      ``scores'' of studies -- national and multilateral -- were carried
out.

      Everyone's Testing

      Speckhard said more than a dozen nations had tested their soldiers or
sent teams to the region since the DU
      scare erupted shortly after Christmas. ``To date, based on preliminary
findings, there has been no indication of
      increased levels of radioactivity at any of the sites tested,'' he
said.

      Countries on the DU committee include the 19 NATO members and some 30
partners most of whom have
      deployed troops in the Balkans missions. They include Malaysia,
Argentina, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates,
      Egypt and Azerbaijan.

      Laity said NATO had posted a detailed map on its Web site
(www.nato.int) showing the target sites in Bosnia
      and Kosovo where DU munitions had been fired. The alliance was
determined to provide ``maximum
      transparency and openness,'' he said. He suggested some European media
had handled the issue irresponsibly,
      failing to look at available scientific facts before deciding to
spread fears. 
Donald P. Mercado
Radiation Safety Officer
Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Missiles & Space - Sunnyvale Operations
O/EK-20, B/101
1111 Lockheed Martin Way
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Ph. (408) 742-0759
Fax (408) 742-0611
Email: Don.mercado@lmco.com

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