DU in bullets, another story, in Canada this time

["Jean-Francois, Stephane" <stephane_jeanfrancois@merck.com>]

Go to this CBC web site :

http://www.newsworld.cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/1999/09/22/navy
990922


The follwoing is an abstract from the web site. Enjoy.

Waters off Halifax conceal                              radioactive shell
casings   WebPosted Wed Sep 22 22:18:04 1999 
HALIFAX - CBC News has learned that tons of
potentially toxic radioactive material is sitting just off
the coast of Nova Scotia. 

                                                                 The
Canadian navy fired thousands of low-level
radioactive shells into a target range near Halifax.
Fishermen in the area say they had no idea depleted
uranium was scattered over the ishing grounds.
The navy says the ammunition is safe, but nuclear
experts disagree. Some say it could pose a serious
hazard. Until about a year ago the shells were fired from a
Phalanx gun, which used shells made of depleted
uranium, a byproduct of the nuclear industry. The
hardened shells are used to penetrate armour plating.
The guns were installed on Canadian ships just prior
to the Gulf War. Over the years the navy fired six tons of depleteduranium
shells, mostly into a fishing area near Eastern
Passage, off Halifax harbour. 
The navy says the depleted uranium is safe. "From
our viewpoint we have not dumped nuclear waste,
that's stretching it," Lt.-Cmdr. Bill McKillip, a navy
spokesman, told CBC TV.  Depleted uranium was widely used in the Gulf War.
It is being blamed for cancers in Iraqi children and even for Gulf War
Syndrome. Now thousands of shell casings are lying a few kilometres offshore
from Halifax. McKillip said there                              are no plans
to either clean up the slugs or test to see                              if
radioactive material has entered the food chain. 

FYI,

Stephane Jean-Francois, Eng., CHP

Specialiste en radioprotection/Radiation Safety Specialist
Gestion des risques/Risk Management
Merck Frosst Canada & Co
TEL: 514.428.8695
FAX; 514.428.8541
email: stephane_jeanfrancois@merck.com 
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