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suspend Vieques operations. However, Secretary Rumsfeld must order complete environmental remediation and medical care for all affected children and others on Vieques. All military operations must be stopped forever. agreement) are only some of the issues that must be addressed. Alpha particles (uranium oxide dust) from expended rounds is a health concern, but beta particles from fragments and intact rounds is a serious health threat, with possible exposure rates of 200 millirads per hour on contact." c--- What did we find immediately after Operation Desert Storm friendly-fire and combat incidents? This memorandum, the reports that we prepared immediately I was assigned to the ODS DU assessment team as the health after the Gulf War as part of the DU assessment project to recover physicist and medic by Headquarters, Department of the Army, in DU-destroyed/contaminated US equipment, the previous research Washington, DC. What we found can be explained in three and other expressed concerns led to the publication of a United words: "Oh my God!" According to official documents, each States Department of Defense directive signed by General Eric uranium penetrator rod could lose up to 70% of its mass on Shinseki on August 19, 1993, to: impact, creating fixed and loose contamination, with the remain- "I. Provide adequate training for personnel who may come ing rod passing through the equipment or structure to land and lie in contact with depleted uranium equipment. on the terrain. On-site impact investigations showed that the mass 2. Complete medical testing of personnel exposed to DU loss is about 40%, which forms fixed and loose contamination, contamination during the Persian Gulf War. leaving about 60% of the initial mass of the penetrator in the solid 3. Develop a plan for DU-contaminated equipment recovery pencil form. We found that standard during future operations." radiacs [radioactive detection, identifi- cation and computation sets] will not It is thus indisputable that United detect this contamination. Equipment os . States Department of Defense officials contamination included uranium frag- It Is important to realise were and are still aware of the unique ments, uranium oxides, other haz- that DU penetrators are and unacceptable hazards associated ardous materials, unstable unexploded . . with using depleted uranium ordnance and byproducts of exploded solid uranium-238. munitions. ordnance. i Consequently, I was recalled to US Army Materiel Command docu- They are not tipped active duty in the US Army as the DU ments sent to us during ODS stated or coated! Project Director and tasked with devel- that the uranium oxide was 57% insol- oping training and environmental man- uble and 43% soluble and at least 50% agement procedures. The project could be inhaled. In most cases, included: a literature review; an exten- except for penetrator fragments, conta- sive curriculum development project mination was found inside destroyed equipment or structures, on involving representatives from all branches of the US Department the destroyed equipment or within 25 metres of the equipment. of Defense and representatives from England, Canada, Germany However, during the 1994 and 1995 Nevada tests, we found DU and Australia; and basic research at the Nevada Test Site located contamination out to 400 metres from a single incident. 120 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, to validate manage- After we returned to the United States, we wrote the Theater ment procedures. The products of the DU Project included: Clean-up Plan which reportedly was passed through the US ¢ Three training curricula: (1) Tier I: General Audience, (2) Department of Defense to the Department of State and conse- Tier II: Battle Damage and Recovery Operations, (3) Tier III: quently to the Emirate of Kuwait. Today, it is obvious that none Chemical Officer/NCO; of this information regarding clean-up of extensive DU contami- ¢ Three videotapes: (1) "Depleted Uranium Hazard nation was ever given to the Iraqis. Consequently, although we = Awareness", (2) "Contaminated and Damaged Equipment knew there were and still are substantial hazards existing within Management", and (3) "Operation of the AN/PDR-77 Radiac Iraq, these have been ignored by the United States and Great Set"; Britain for political and economic reasons. * The US Army Draft Regulation, "Management of Equipment Iraqi, Kosovar, Serbian and other representatives have asked Contaminated with Depleted Uranium or Radioactive numerous times for DU contamination management and medical Commodities"; care procedures, but this information has not been provided. ¢ A United States Army pamphlet specifying "Handling Residents of Vieques, who are US citizens, also have asked for Procedures for Equipment Contaminated with Depleted Uranium medical care and completion of environmental remediation, but or Radioactive Commodities"; DOD officials still refuse to complete these essential actions. « A redesigned radiac capable of finding and quantifying DU contamination. How did the Depleted Uranium Project get started, and Although these products were completed, approved and ready what were its objectives? for distribution by January 1996, the US Army, US Department of The probable health and environmental hazards of uranium Defense, British, German, Canadian and Australian officials have contamination were known before the Gulf War. A United States disregarded repeated directives and have not implemented, or Defense Nuclear Agency memorandum, written by LTC Lyle, have only implemented portions of, the training or management that was sent to our team in Saudi Arabia, stated: procedures. The training curriculum and management procedures "As Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), ground combat have not been given to all individuals and representatives of gov- units, and civil populations of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq ernments whose populations and environment have been exposed come increasingly into contact with DU ordnance, we must to DU contamination, as verified by US General Accounting prepare to deal with potential problems. Toxic war sou- Office investigators in a report published in March 2000 and venirs, political furor, and post-conflict clean-up (host nation through personal conversations. It is important to realise that DU penetrators are solid uranium-238. They are not tipped or coated! How did the Depleted Uranium Project get started, and what were its objectives? The probable health and environmental hazards of uranium contamination were known before the Gulf War. A United States Defense Nuclear Agency memorandum, written by LTC Lyle, that was sent to our team in Saudi Arabia, stated: "As Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), ground combat units, and civil populations of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq come increasingly into contact with DU ordnance, we must prepare to deal with potential problems. Toxic war sou- venirs, political furor, and post-conflict clean-up (host nation JUNE — JULY 2003 NEXUS +13 www.nexusmagazine.com