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In terms of weaponry, “anything that kills the enemy faster and keeps me alive longer is a good thing,” said veteran Melissa Sterry in an interview with P.H. At fi rst glance, DU appears to be a very good thing. A byproduct of the process used to power nuclear reactors, depleted uranium is forty percent less radioactive than natural uranium. The compound is over one and a half times denser than lead, meaning it packs a large mass into a very small volume. DU-coated weapons are strong enough to penetrate virtually any target. Likewise, DU-coated armor provides a shield for troops and their vehicles that easily resists normal munitions.
But when DU weapons blow up, they burn spontaneously and regain radioactivity. Sterry learned this fi rsthand during her tour of duty in Iraq. Like Rokke, she has since become a leading opponent of DU and has addressed the United Nations on the topic. Sterry told P.H. that when things explode, DU can kill the soldiers it was meant to protect. “And what happens a lot on battlefields?” she asked rhetorically. Rokke agreed. “It’s like a fi restorm inside any vehicle or structure, and so we saw tremendous burns, tremendous injuries. It was devastating.” He described an experiment in which he shot a tank with DU munitions and watched the uranium continue to burn twenty minutes later.
Intense fires are only the beginning of the problem. After receiving energy from impact, the compound regains much of its radioactivity. While burning, uranium becomes aerosolized and binds easily to silicates like sand. In windswept areas like Iraq, uranium-containing sand can travel long distances. Inhaled into the lungs or ingested with food, uranium dust enters a soldier’s body where, depending on one’s side of the argument, it either begins eating away or does nothing at all.
According to veterans like Sterry and Rokke, the particles lead to nasty complications. Once inhaled, Rokke explained, “the majority [goes] … right into the bloodstream. The other stuff sits in the lungs … [which] are trashed right away.” The particles are not easily excreted. Insoluble uranium oxide settles in fat tissue and begins to emit radiation. This radiation mutates DNA and RNA molecules, leading to birth defects and cancer. At the same time, uranium replaces calcium, weakening teeth and causing early osteoporosis. Soluble uranium accumulates in the kidneys, making kidney disease a frequent complaint.
Veterans who complain of DU-associated health problems face an uphill battle because the U.S. government refuses to recognize these damaging symptoms. The VA conducted a ten year study of soldiers who received DU shrapnel wounds and concluded that the group “has not had any problems that can be linked to DU, including cancer, birth defects and kidney problems, even though their measure of uranium on a urine test are elevated, as expected.” Veterans who indicate exposure to DU through a questionnaire are entitled to a medical interview and a urine test. At that point, little can be done. The perpetually under-funded VA has few options in treating symptoms that offi cially do not exist.
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