Photo: STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images
The United States already sent 31 Abrams-type tanks to Ukraine in January. Now, the Pentagon also wants to send ammunition with a greater destructive power. It plans to deliver a new $175 million military aid package to Ukraine, which also includes 120mm caliber ammunition containing depleted uranium.
What exactly is uranium ammunition?
The uranium ammunition (in English, depleted uraniumDU), consists mostly of depleted uranium, which is left over from radioactive waste from uranium enrichment. In this procedure, natural uranium is divided into two components.
Enriched uranium has a higher content of U-235 and is used in nuclear power plants and in the production of atomic weapons. A large amount of depleted uranium is also formed, which contains a much smaller part of that radioactive isotope, but with an extremely high density. In the manufacture of ammunition, it is mixed with metals such as titanium or molybdenum, and, to protect it from corrosion, it is covered with a thin layer of other metals.
The weak radioactivity of the uranium contained in the shells has no additional military use, but the shells have a particularly high penetrating power. Its mode of operation is especially perfidious: the bullets are so hard that they can pierce the outer shell of a tank, and the ammunition is designed in such a way that a point remains when deformed by an impact.
The remainder of the shell melts and releases hot uranium powder, which ignites spontaneously on contact with the oxygen inside the vehicle, burning the enemy tank crew alive. If the vehicle is still carrying ammunition or fuel, an explosion inside the vehicle may also occur.
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What countries have uranium ammunition?
Already in World War II, the wehrmacht of the Nazi German regime tried to use uranium ammunition. But the material was scarce and expensive, so it was not used in the war. Currently, 21 countries hold stocks of this ammunition, including the US, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. But only the US admitted to having used it, in military missions in Iraq, in the former Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan and in Syria. During the war in Iraq alone, in 2003, hundreds of tons of uranium ammunition were fired.
Unlike biological weapons, chemical weapons, antipersonnel mines, or cluster bombs, uranium munitions are not prohibited. There is no international agreement that explicitly prohibits the use of depleted uranium. However, experts warn about the possible long-term consequences of the release of uranium in large quantities.
Is there a danger of radioactivity in war territories?
Depleted uranium can hardly directly irradiate people in its environment: its radioactivity is about 40 percent weaker than that of natural uranium and, in general, radiation cannot penetrate skin or clothing. At a distance of one meter, one kilogram of depleted uranium produces an annual radiation dose that corresponds to approximately one third of the natural radiation exposure.
However, even that radiation – at short distances and over a longer period of time – can damage genetic material and lead to cancer. Even more dangerous is that people can inhale uranium dust through the respiratory tract, or ingest it with food, or have it pass through wounds. Like other heavy metals, uranium is toxic and can cause serious damage to internal organs.
How serious are the long-term consequences?
The long-term consequences for humans and nature are being highly discussed by experts. There is talk of an increase in deformities in newborns, cancer and other consequences, for example, in Iraq, according to a report by the International Organization of Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). However, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), uranium munitions do not pose a particular radiological risk to the civilian population. A report commissioned by the European Commission in 2010 also sees “no evidence of environmental and health risks” from depleted uranium.
It is not clear if it could contaminate soil and groundwater. But uranium is very susceptible to corrosion. ANDn just five to ten years, unexploded bombs and shells can rust in the ground and release uranium into groundwater layers. However, studies in the affected areas have only been able to detect a minimal increase in the concentration of uranium in the waters. Today there are still no reliable long-term studies. But they would be necessary: The uranium isotope U-238, found mainly in ammunition, has a half-life of 4.5 million years.
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