DU

[Philip Hypes <phypes@nis5.lanl.gov>]

At the risk of running on into a huge message like one or two of my
previous DU postings, I'd like to give my answers to some of the 
recent DU vet questions.

To the best of my knowledge, the Gulf War marked the first significant
use of DU on a battlefield.  It has been around for quite a while, but it
is primarily useful in battles between armored vehicles such as tanks
and armored personnel carriers.

Although it has been in the inventory for years, actual use of DU ammo
is very closely controlled.  Army policy is that in peacetime, DU will
only be fired in R&D settings.  The ammunition is only issued to
units about to engage the enemy, or who face a very real and constant
risk of doing so.  Before the Gulf War, you would have had to look long
and hard to find a gunner who had actually pulled the trigger on a DU
round.

As I stated a month or two ago, the chemical form and particle size of
inhaled DU determine whether it is primarily a renal hazard or a
radiation hazard.  For details, check the radsafe archives for last Dec.

I hope those veterans who are suffering from the variety of reported
ailments find releif, but I don't believe that environmental DU dust is 
part of the cause to any significant degree.  The soldiers who are still
carrying DU shrapnel are, to the best of my knowledge, in good general
health considering their other injuries.  If DU caused GWS, they should
all be basket cases.  

That having been said, anyone attempting to convey this information to
those soldiers should do so with utmost care, compassion, and very
well chosen words.  These are men who have served their country in
time of war, and are convinced that the swords supplied by their own
governments cut both ways.

Phil
___________________________________________________________
Philip Hypes
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Safegaurds Science and Technology Group (NIS 5)
(505) 667-1556  phypes@lanl.gov

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