ABCNEWS.com : Bullets With Uranium Used in Yugoslavia [Anonymized-proxy7]

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Civilians At Risk?
	Pentagon Official: Uranium Bullets Used in Yugoslavia Low- and slow-flying U.S. A-10 aircraft such as this one are firing depleted uranium rounds at Serb forces, a Pentagon official said. A-10 "Warthogs" earned a reputation as tank killers during the 1991 Gulf War. (AP Photo/ U.S. Air Force, Senior Airman Jeffrey Allen)

By David Ruppe
ABCNEWS.com
May 4 — NATO aircraft are attacking Yugoslav targets with special bullets that some veterans groups believe were responsible for the illnesses of thousands of U.S. troops following the 1991 Gulf War.
     The controversial rounds, which contain depleted uranium (DU), were used extensively by U.S. A-10 warplanes to destroy the Iraqi tanks and other armored vehicles during the Gulf War. They were also used against Bosnian Serb targets in 1995.
     Depleted uranium is an extremely dense metal that burns upon striking a target, enabling the bullets to pierce tank armor with relative ease.
     Depleted uranium comes from the process of preparing uranium for nuclear reactors and weapons. It has a half-life of 4.5 billion years.
     Upon impact a target, an airborne radioactive dust is created that can be toxic in humans if inhaled or ingested.
     Veterans groups have argued that the rounds may be linked to “Gulf War Illness,” the mysterious sicknesses suffered by thousands of U.S. troops who fought in the conflict, and could be hazardous to civilians and the environment. The Pentagon has acknowledged that thousands of U.S. soldiers were unnecessarily exposed to DU, but denies that is the cause of Gulf War Illness.
     Quoting an Air Force official, the Christian Science Monitor reported last week that U.S. A-10 aircraft participating in the airstrikes were armed with the bullets — but had not yet used them.
     Maj. Gen. Charles Wald, who is the Joint Chiefs’ vice director for strategic plans and policy, acknowledged Monday that 30mm depleted uranium rounds were in fact being fired by A-10 aircraft against Yugoslav forces.

Not ‘Severe Problem’
But Wald played down the health consequences of using the rounds.
     “I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve been around the A-10s for a long time and I know that I’ve seen the munitions handler put these bullets in the aircraft, holding on to them for 20 years, so they’ve done a lot of scientific studies on those things and there really doesn’t seem to be a severe problem,” said Wald.
     “So I don’t think there’s a problem at all with [the rounds]. There’s never been a problem for any of us so it’s kind of old news,” he said.
     Scientists say the greatest risk occurs when the dust is ingested. Pentagon officials maintain the likelihood is low that the heavy depleted uranium dust would be ingested by many people.
     A 1990 study commissioned by the Army, however, linked depleted uranium with cancer. It concluded that “no dose is so low that the probability of effect is zero.”
     A subcommission of the United Nation Human Rights Commission resolved in 1996 that depleted uranium is a weapon of mass destruction that should be banned.

What Are Acceptable Risks?
The Pentagon reportedly has been unable to establish its own safety standards for using depleted uranium.
     The Pentagon’s current regulations are based on Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards, which require masks and suits when dealing with depleted uranium contamination.
     But a 1993 report by the General Accounting Office, Congress’ investigative arm, said Army officials “believe that DU protective means can be ignored during battle.”
     Pentagon officials told the Monitor the military still needs to decide what are “acceptable risks” for using depleted uranium in combat.
     The National Gulf War Resource Center, a coalition of veterans groups based in Washington, estimated in January that as many as 600,000 Gulf War soldiers might have been exposed to some 300 tons of depleted uranium fired by U.S. aircraft at Iraqi troops in the 1991 Gulf War.

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