(U.S.) Contacts for DU/Gulf War, etc. Questions?

[Duane Schmidt <DWS2@nrc.gov>]

Dear RADSAFERs,

I work at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and have primarily been involved with our regulatory program over uranium recovery facilities--uranium mills and in-situ leach mine/mill facilities. Our agency receives frequent questions from members of the public and from the press regarding the use of depleted uranium in shells that have been or may be used in armed conflicts, especially the Gulf War in Iraq and the current war in Kosovo. A number of these questions have been referred to me, because I am involved in uranium issues. 

I'm not the best person to answer these questions, and our agency is not the best agency, either (I think). I am hoping to find contacts of people who would be well versed in this subject and better prepared to answer these types of questions. I know that the Department of Defense has been studying the potential health effects of this issue, and I have heard that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Health may have also been studying these issues, so there may be some better contacts at those agencies. 

If you know someone who would be a good contact for such questions, or if you would like to volunteer to be a contact for such questions, please let me know. I will not refer questions to anyone who has not agreed to answer such questions. Contacts could be e-mail and/or phone contacts (good web pages might be useful, but are less helpful than "real people"). Response by private e-mail, to    dws2@nrc.gov   would be fine. 

Thanks for any help. Have a good weekend!

Duane.

Duane W. Schmidt, CHP
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Division of Waste Management
mailto:    dws2@nrc.gov
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