The Dangers of Depleted Uranium

Berkeley scientist presents findings to Arcata crowd

by Christopher Gatz
Lumberjack Staff
04.30.03

Arcata’s Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone Commission sponsored two educational events last week: a talk and a teach-in about the U.S. Military’s use of depleted uranium.
The talk was held at the D Street Community Center on Friday evening and the teach-in was at the Peace and Justice Center the following morning.

Depleted uranium is a radioactive isotope currently being used by the U.S. Military in weapons. The commonly used isotopes are uranium-238, 235 and 234. Weapons using depleted uranium are not classified as a nuclear, so they are not banned by international law.

The keynote speaker at both of the events was Leuren Moret, city of Berkeley’s Environmental Commissioner and an expert on the radiation and health effects of radioactive elements. Moret is an Environmental Geologist and independent scientist who used to work in the field of nuclear research and she now devotes all of her time traveling and presenting information on the dangers of radioactivity to the public. She is also the president of an organization called Scientists for Indigenous People, which works with communities in several countries that have been exposed to radiation because of U.S. Military actions.

Moret wrote a scientific report to present to a United Nations sub-commission about depleted uranium and its effects so that they could investigate the legality of the weapons.

Depleted uranium is used in weaponry because of its extraordinary density, which makes it very effective at piercing tanks, and buildings or bunkers. The health effects are not as instantaneous as those from direct nuclear explosions, but the long term effects are now starting to become obvious and are finally being documented. The danger involved with depleted uranium stems from the fact that the element is processed into particles less than one tenth of the size of a single bacteria cell. This makes it easy to inhale (even through gas masks) and very soluble into the bloodstream.

The Gulf War Syndrome, which has put more then half of the 450,000 troops on disability, is finally being attributed to depleted uranium. However, there has been a large cover-up due to the fact that these soldiers will not talk about their illnesses, fearing the loss of medical benefits for themselves and their families.

The lecture on Friday held an audience of roughly 70 or 80 people. Moret spoke very highly of Arcata’s reputation of social and political activism. She is convinced that community activism is the only way that any successful changes to this nations infrastructure will occur.