Introduzione sulla pericolosita' del DU fatta da Doug Rokke gia' Direttore del Progetto ricerca sul D.U. dell'USAF Army.
DEPLETED URANIUM MUNITIONS AND DEPARTMENT
OF ENERGY OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURES
Doug Rokke, Ph.D.
Department of Physical and Earth Sciences Jacksonville State University
The United States and Great Britain deliberately used depleted uranium (DU) munitions causing a health and environmental disaster in Iraq and
Kuwait with anticipated similar effects in Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia,
Puerto Rico, and Okinawa. Consequently warriors and non-combatants have
been exposed to uranium and possible contamaints such as plutoniun and
neptunium which may have been introduced during uranium enrichment at
United States Department of Energy facilities.
Depleted uranium (DU) or uranium-238 is made from uranium hexaflouride
which is the non-fissionable by-product of the uranium enrichment
process used to obtain uranium-235 for reactor fuel and nuclear bombs. A
surprising annoucement by U.S. Department of Energy officials on January
29, 2000 acknowledged after many years of denial that employees of their
facilities had significantly higher incident rates for leukemia;
Hodgin's lymphoma; and cancers of the prostrate, kidney, liver, salivary
glands, and lungs. Previous annoucements acknowledged respiratory
problems at the Puducah, Kentucky facility and other facilities. These
revelations and acknowedgements reinforce the suspected health and
environmental hazards of depleted uranium which is manfactured from the
main byproduct, uranium hexaflouride, of each of these facilites. It is
even more disturbing that in a memorandum dated October 30, 1943 senior
scientists assigned to the Manhatten Project suggested to General Leslie
Groves that uranium could be used as an air and terrain contaminant
because of it's significant respiratory, gastro-intestinal based on
contaminated food and water consumption, blood stream, and tissue
adverse health effects. Today that recommendation has been implemented
with eternal health and environmental effects.
Therefore, each day reveals more evidence that the United States' and
Great Britain's willfull distribution of over 310 tons of uranium
contamination in Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia and over 10 tons in
Kosovo, and unknown quanities in Puerto Rico, Okinawa, Serbia, and other
locations poses serious risks. Although it is difficult to verify that
health effects were caused by DU exposure accumulating evidence
indicates that health effects include: reactive airway disease,
neurological abnormalities, kidney stones, chronic kidney pain, rashes,
vision degradation, night vision losses, gum tissue problems, lymphoma,
leukemia, other cancers, neuro-psychological disorders, uranium in
semen, sexual disfunction, and birth defects in offspring.
Responsibility for DU exposures will be elusive while U.S. and British
officials are permitted to willfully deny or delay medical treatment to
all individuals who inhaled, ingested, or have wound contamination.
Exposures will continue until removal of all DU contamination is
completed. Still United States and British officials continue to deny
any responsibility for this travesty of environmental justice.
Therefore, the citizens of the world must insist that:
1. All individuals who may have inhaled, ingested, or had wound
contamination must receive medical assessment and treatment for adverse
health effects.
2. All depleted uranium penetrator fragments, contaminated equipment,
and oxide contamination must be removed and disposed of to prevent
further adverse health and environmental effects.
3. The use of depleted uranium munitions must be banned.
Author information:
Dr. Rokke is the former ODS DU Team health physicist and medic, the former U.S. Army DU Project Director, and currently teaches
environmental science and engineering at Jacksonville State University,
Jacksonville, Alabama. Dr. Rokke was assigned by name to clean up the
DU mess in a message sent to the theater commander from HQDA during
February 1991. The comments contained in this article which are based on
existing documents and personal experience contradict official U.S. and
British policies and press releases.
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