Row over depleted uranium gets murkier

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JAN. 13. The British Government is getting deeper into the mire over the depleted uranium (DU) controversy as yet another confidential document - this time from America - shows that the U.S. army had warned of serious DU-related health risks such as lung and bone cancer way back in 1993 and an even older document confirms that the dangers posed by exposure to it were known during the Gulf War in 1991.

The revelations on Friday coincided with the news that the American manufacturers of DU ammunition have stopped producing it because of safety concerns, and are replacing it with a less toxic and radioactive substance tungsten. Reports say that the U.S. navy started phasing out its stocks 10 years ago, while the British Royal Navy continues not only to use DU but insists that there are no serious risks involved. But the decision of the U.S. manufacturers to stop production is likely to force the Royal Navy to follow the American lead. ``The navy will completely phase out DU from all Phalanx ammunition only by 2003, years after the Americans replaced DU with tungsten,'' The Times said today in a front page story highlighting how Britain kept up the myth of ``no risk'' even as Americans themselves agonised over safety concerns and took remedial measures.

The new documents come a day after the controversy over an internal report of a British medical team which had warned that the peacekeeping forces in the Balkans, where DU-tipped shells were used by NATO troops, had been exposed to risk of cancer. The Ministry of Defence dismissed it as the work of a ``trainee'' not to be taken seriously.

The two U.S. documents plus the disclosure that Americans stopped using DU themselves have deeply embarrassed the British Government, though it continues to maintain that ``there have been no risks for our soldiers from DU''. It declined to comment on the U.S. army Surgeon-General's 1993 report that exposure to dust from DU could lead to ``possible increased risk of cancer (lung or bone) and kidney damage.'' It stressed that its use was ``highly unlikely for most battlefield scenarios.''

Pressure from war veterans within Britain is growing for an inquiry into the issue which has raised concerns across the political spectrum. For once, the Tories are not in a position to take advantage because much of the damage was done during the successive Tory governments and Labour is simply trying to make the best of a bad inheritance.

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Section  : International
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