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Depleted Uranium (DU) is uranium remaining after removal of the isotope uranium-235. It is a waste product of the uranium enrichment process. It is primarily composed of the isotope uranium-238. In the past it was called by the names Q-metal, depletalloy, and D-38, but these have fallen into disuse. Since depleted uranium contains less than one third as much uranium-235 and uranium-234 as natural uranium, it is weakly radioactive and an external radiation dose from depleted uranium is about 60% of that from the same mass of uranium with a natural isotopic ratio.

At standard temperature and pressure (STP) it is a very dense metal solid. Due to its high density the main uses of depleted uranium include counterweights in aircraft, radiation shields in medical radiation therapy machines and containers for the transport of radioactive materials. The military uses depleted uranium for defensive armor plate and its pyrophoricity has made it a valued component in other military applications, particularly in the form of armour-piercing projectiles.

Its use in ammunition is controversial because of its release into the environment. Besides its residual radioactivity, U-238 is a heavy metal whose compounds are known from laboratory studies to be toxic to mammals. However, there has never been a definitive toxicological link established in humans and it is believed that low and moderate exposures to depleted uranium pose little if any toxicological threat.

Sources

Depleted uranium is produced as a byproduct during the process of forming enriched uranium from natural uranium. Enriched uranium is used in nuclear reactors. When the majority of fissile radioactive isotopes of uranium are removed from natural uranium, what remains is called depleted uranium. Another, less common, source of Depleted Uranium is reprocessed spent reactor fuel. DU created by enrichment can be distinguished from DU created in a reactor by the percentage of uranium-236, produced by neutron capture from uranium-235 in nuclear reactors, present in the material.

DU is considered both a toxic and radioactive hazard that requires long term storage as low level nuclear waste. DU is relatively expensive to store but relatively inexpensive to produce or obtain. Generally the only real costs are those associated with conversion of uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) to metal. DU is extremely dense, 67% denser than lead, only slightly less than tungsten and gold, and just 16% less dense than osmium or iridium, the densest naturally occurring substances known. Its low cost makes it attractive for a variety of industrial and military uses. However, the material is prone to corrosion and small particles are pyrophoric.

History

Depleted uranium was first stored in stockpiles in the 1940s when the U.S. and USSR began their nuclear weapons and nuclear power programs. While it is possible to design civilian power reactors with unenriched fuel, only about 10% of reactors ever built utilize that technology, and both nuclear weapons production and naval reactors require the concentrated isotope. Originally, DU was conserved in the hope that more efficient enrichment techniques would allow further extraction of the fissile isotope; however, those hopes have not materialized.

In the 1970s, The Pentagon reported that the Soviet military had developed armor plating for Warsaw Pact tanks that NATO ammunition couldn't penetrate. The Pentagon began searching for material to make denser bullets. After testing various metals, ordnance researchers settled on depleted uranium. DU was useful in ammunition not only because of its unique physical properties and effectiveness, but also because it was cheap and readily available. Tungsten, the only other candidate, had to be sourced from China. With DU stockpiles estimated to be more than 500,000 tons, the financial burden of housing this amount of low-level radioactive waste was very apparent. It was therefore more economical to use depleted uranium rather than storing it. Thus, from the late 1970s, the U.S., the Soviet Union, Britain and France, began converting their stockpiles of depleted uranium into kinetic energy penetrators.

Photographic evidence of destroyed equipment suggests that DU was first used during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Various written reports cite information that was obtained as a consequence of that use. However, while clearing the decades-old Hawaii Stryker firing range, workers have found depleted uranium ammunition from the 1960s.

The U.S. military used DU shells in the 1991 Gulf War, Bosnia war, Serbia bombing, and the 2003 Iraq War.

Production and availability

Natural uranium metal contains about 0.71% U-235, 99.28% U-238, and about 0.0054% U-234. In order to produce enriched uranium, the process of isotope separation removes a substantial portion of the U-235 for use in nuclear power, weapons, or other uses. The remainder, depleted uranium, contains only 0.2% to 0.4% U-235. Because natural uranium begins with such a low percentage of U-235, the enrichment process produces large quantities of depleted uranium. For example, producing 1 kg of 5% enriched uranium requires 11.8 kg of natural uranium, and leaves about 10.8 kg of depleted uranium with only 0.3% U-235 remaining.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) defines depleted uranium as uranium with a percentage of the U isotope that is less than 0.711% by weight (See 10 CFR 40.4.) The military specifications designate that the DU used by DoD contain less than 0.3% U (AEPI, 1995). In actuality, DoD uses only DU that contains approximately 0.2% U (AEPI, 1995).

World Depleted Uranium Inventory

Country	Organization	DU Stocks (in tonnes)	Reported
United States	DOE	480,000	2002
Russia	FAEA	460,000	1996
France	COGEMA	190,000	2001
United Kingdom	BNFL	30,000	2001
Germany	URENCO	16,000	1999
Japan	JNFL	10,000	2001
China	CNNC	2,000	2000
South Korea	KAERI	200	2002
South Africa	NECSA	73	2001
TOTAL		1,188,273	2002

Source: WISE Uranium Project

Military applications

Depleted uranium is very dense; at 19050 kg/m³, it is almost 70% denser than lead. Thus a given weight of it has a smaller diameter than an equivalent lead projectile, with less aerodynamic drag and deeper penetration due to a higher pressure at point of impact. DU projectile ordnance is often incendiary because of its pyrophoric property.

Armor plate

Because of its high density, depleted uranium can also be used in tank armor, sandwiched between sheets of steel armor plate. For instance, some late-production M1A1HA and M1A2 Abrams tanks built after 1998 have DU reinforcement as part of its armor plating in the front of the hull and the front of the turret and there is a program to upgrade the rest, for example Chobham armour.

Nuclear weapons

Depleted uranium is used as a tamper in fission bombs and as a nuclear fuel in hydrogen bombs.

Ammunition

Most military use of depleted uranium has been as 30 mm and smaller ordnance, primarily the 30 mm PGU-14/B armour-piercing incendiary round from the GAU-8 Avenger cannon of the A-10 Thunderbolt II and M230 of the Apache Helicopter used by the U.S. Air Force. 25 mm DU rounds have been used in the M242 gun mounted on the U.S. Army's Bradley Fighting Vehicle and LAV-AT. The U.S. Marine Corps uses DU in the 25 mm PGU-20 round fired by the GAU-12 Equalizer cannon of the AV-8B Harrier, and also in the 20 mm M197 gun mounted on AH-1 helicopter gunships. The US Navy's Phalanx CIWS's M61 Vulcan gatling gun used 20 mm armor-piercing penetrator rounds with discarding plastic sabots which were made using depleted uranium, later changed to tungsten.

Another use of depleted uranium is in kinetic energy penetrators anti-armor role. Kinetic energy penetrator rounds consist of a long, relatively thin penetrator surrounded by discarding sabot. Two materials lend themselves to penetrator construction: tungsten and depleted uranium, the latter in designated alloys known as staballoys. Staballoys are metal alloys of depleted uranium with a very small proportion of other metals, usually titanium or molybdenum. One formulation has a composition of 99.25% by weight of depleted uranium and 0.75% by weight of titanium. Another variant can have 3.5% by weight of titanium. Staballoys are about twice as dense as lead and are designed for use in kinetic energy penetrator armor-piercing ammunition. The US Army uses DU in an alloy with around 3.5% titanium.

Staballoys, along with lower raw material costs, have the advantage of being easy to melt and cast into shape; a difficult and expensive process for tungsten. Note also that according to recent research, at least some of the most promising tungsten alloys which have been considered as replacement for depleted uranium in penetrator ammunitions, such as tungsten-cobalt or tungsten-nickel-cobalt alloys, possess extreme carcinogenic properties, which by far exceed those (confirmed or suspected) of depleted uranium itself: 100% of rats implanted with a pellet of such alloys developed lethal rhabdomyosarcoma within a few weeks. On more properly military grounds, depleted uranium is favored for the penetrator because it is self-sharpening and pyrophoric. On impact with a hard target, such as an armoured vehicle, the nose of the rod fractures in such a way that it remains sharp. The impact and subsequent release of heat energy causes it to disintegrate to dust and burn when it reaches air because of its pyrophoric properties (compare to ferrocerium). When a DU penetrator reaches the interior of an armored vehicle, it catches fire, often igniting ammunition and fuel, killing the crew, and possibly causing the vehicle to explode. DU is used by the U.S. Army in 120 mm or 105 mm cannons employed on the M1 Abrams and M60A3 tanks. The Russian military has used DU ammunition in tank main gun ammunition since the late 1970s, mostly for the 115 mm guns in the T-62 tank and the 125 mm guns in the T-64, T-72, T-80, and T-90 tanks.

The DU content in various ammunition is 180 g in 20 mm projectiles, 200 g in 25 mm ones, 280g in 30 mm, 3.5 kg in 105 mm, and 4.5 kg in 120 mm penetrators. It is used in the form of Staballoy. The US Navy used DU in its 20 mm Phalanx CIWS guns, but switched in the late 1990s to armor-piercing tungsten for this application, because of the fire risk associated with stray pyrophoric rounds. DU was used during the mid-1990s in the U.S. to make 9 mm and similar caliber armor piercing bullets, grenades, cluster bombs, and mines, but those applications have been discontinued, according to Alliant Techsystems. Whether or not other nations still make such use of DU is difficult to determine.

It is thought that between 17 and 20 states have weapons incorporating depleted uranium in their arsenals. They include the USA, the UK, France, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Pakistan, Thailand, Iraq and Taiwan. DU ammunition is manufactured in 18 countries. Only the US and the UK have acknowledged using DU weapons.

Legal status in weapons

In 1996 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) gave an advisory opinion on the "legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons". This made it clear, in paragraphs 54, 55 and 56, that international law on poisonous weapons, – the Second Hague Declaration of 29 July 1899, Hague Convention IV of 18 October 1907 and the Geneva Protocol of 17 June 1925 – did not cover nuclear weapons, because their prime or exclusive use was not to poison or asphyxiate. This ICJ opinion was about nuclear weapons, but the sentence "The terms have been understood, in the practice of States, in their ordinary sense as covering weapons whose prime, or even exclusive, effect is to poison or asphyxiate." also removes depleted uranium weaponry from coverage by the same treaties as their primary use is not to poison or asphyxiate, but to destroy materiel and kill soldiers through kinetic energy.

The Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, passed two motions the first in 1996 and the second in 1997. They listed weapons of mass destruction, or weapons with indiscriminate effect, or of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering and urged all states to curb the production and the spread of such weapons. Included in the list was weaponry containing depleted uranium. The committee authorized a working paper, in the context of human rights and humanitarian norms, of the weapons. The requested UN working paper was delivered in 2002 by Y.K.J. Yeung Sik Yuen in accordance with Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights resolution 2001/36. He argues that the use of DU in weapons, along with the other weapons listed by the Sub‑Commission, may breach one or more of the following treaties: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the Charter of the United Nations; the Genocide Convention; the United Nations Convention Against Torture; the Geneva Conventions including Protocol I; the Convention on Conventional Weapons of 1980; and the Chemical Weapons Convention. Yeung Sik Yuen writes in Paragraph 133 under the title "Legal compliance of weapons containing DU as a new weapon":

Annex II to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material 1980 (which became operative on 8 February 1997) classifies DU as a category II nuclear material. Storage and transport rules are set down for that category which indicates that DU is considered sufficiently “hot” and dangerous to warrant these protections. But since weapons containing DU are relatively new weapons no treaty exists yet to regulate, limit or prohibit its use. The legality or illegality of DU weapons must therefore be tested by recourse to the general rules governing the use of weapons under humanitarian and human rights law which have already been analysed in Part I of this paper, and more particularly at paragraph 35 which states that parties to Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 have an obligation to ascertain that new weapons do not violate the laws and customs of war or any other international law. As mentioned, the International Court of Justice considers this rule binding customary humanitarian law.

In 2001, Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, said that NATO's use of depleted uranium in former Yugoslavia could be investigated as a possible war crime. Louise Arbour, Del Ponte's predecessor as chief prosecutor, had created a small, internal committee, made up of staff lawyers, to assess the allegation. Their findings, that were accepted and endorsed by Del Ponte, concluded that:

There is no specific treaty ban on the use of DU projectiles. There is a developing scientific debate and concern expressed regarding the impact of the use of such projectiles and it is possible that, in future, there will be a consensus view in international legal circles that use of such projectiles violate general principles of the law applicable to use of weapons in armed conflict. No such consensus exists at present.

Requests for a general moratorium of military use

Some states and a coalition of over 80 non-governmental organizations have asked for a ban on the production and military use of depleted uranium weapons. The European Parliament has repeatedly passed resolutions requesting an immediate moratorium on the further use of depleted uranium ammunition, but France and Britain – the only EU states that are also permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – have consistently rejected calls for a ban, maintaining that its use continues to be legal, and that the health risks are entirely unsubstantiated.

Non-military applications

Non-military applications for depleted uranium are typically unrelated to its radioactive properties. Depleted Uranium has a very high density and is primarily used as shielding material for other radioactive material, and as ballast. Examples include sailboat keels, as counterweights and sinker bars in oil drills, gyroscope rotors, aircraft trim weights, radiography shielding and wherever there is a need for a high density material. Other high density materials are sometimes preferred since uranium is prone to corrosion.

Other consumer product uses have included incorporation into dental porcelain used for false teeth to simulate the fluorescence of natural teeth and uranium-bearing reagents used in chemistry laboratories. (eg. uranyl acetate, used in analytical chemistry and as a stain in electron microscopy).

Uranium was widely used as a coloring matter for porcelain and glass in the 19th and early to mid 20th century. The practice was largely discontinued in the late 20th century, however in 1999 concentrations of 10% depleted uranium were being used in "jaune no.17" a yellow enamel powder that was being produced in France by Cristallerie de Saint-Paul, a manufacturer of enamel pigments. The depleted uranium used in the powder was sold by Cogéma's Pierrelatte facility. Cogema has since discontinued the sale of depleted uranium to producers of enamel and glass.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations at 10 CFR 40.25 establish a general license for the use of depleted uranium contained in industrial products or devices for mass-volume applications. This general license allows anyone to possess or use Depleted Uranium for authorized purposes. Generally, a registration form is required, along with a commitment to not abandon the material. Agreement States may have similar, or more stringent, regulations.

Trim weights in aircraft

Aircraft that contain depleted uranium trim weights (Boeing 747-100 for example) may contain between 400 to 1,500 kg of DU. This application is controversial since the DU may enter the environment if the aircraft were to crash. The metal can also oxidize to a fine powder in a fire. Its use has been phased out in many newer aircraft. Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas discontinued using DU counterweights in the 1980s. Depleted uranium was released during the Bijlmer disaster, when 152 kg was lost during the tragedy. Counterweights manufactured with cadmium plating are considered non-hazardous while the plating is intact.

Uranium hexafluoride

About 95% of the depleted uranium produced is stored as uranium hexafluoride, (D)UF₆, in steel cylinders in open air yards close to enrichment plants. Each cylinder contains up to 12.7 tonnes (or 14 US tons) of UF₆. In the U.S. alone, 560,000 tonnes of depleted UF₆ had accumulated by 1993. In 2005, 686,500 tonnes in 57,122 storage cylinders were located near Portsmouth, Ohio, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Paducah, Kentucky. , The long-term storage of DUF₆ presents environmental, health, and safety risks because of its chemical instability. When UF₆ is exposed to moist air, it reacts with the water in the air to produce UO₂F₂ (uranyl fluoride) and HF (hydrogen fluoride) both of which are highly soluble and toxic. Storage cylinders must be regularly inspected for signs of corrosion and leaks. The estimated life time of the steel cylinders is measured in decades.

There have been several accidents involving uranium hexafluoride in the United States. The U.S. government has been converting DUF₆ to solid uranium oxides for disposal. Such disposal of the entire DUF₆ inventory could cost anywhere from 15 to 450 million dollars.

Health considerations

Depleted Uranium is a radioactive material and a chemical material. The principal health consideration of Depleted Uranium is due to chemical toxicity. The organ at greatest risk from chemical toxicity are the kidneys. Of less concern are Depeleted Uranium’s radiological hazards. Both natural and Depleted Uranium are weakly radioactive. As with any radiation exposure, there is some chance of developing cancer, however exposure to either Depleted or Natural Uranium has never been proven to have resulted in a human cancer of any type.

Radiological hazards

External exposure to radiation from depleted uranium has generally not been considered a major concern because the alpha particle emitted by its isotopes travel only a few centimeters in air or can be stopped by a sheet of paper. Also, the uranium-235 that remains in depleted uranium emits only a small amount of low-energy gamma radiation. According to the World Health Organization, a radiation dose from it would be about 60% of that from purified natural uranium with the same mass. Approximately 90 µg (micrograms) of natural uranium, on average, exist in the human body as a result of normal intakes of water, food and air. The majority of this is found in the skeleton, with the rest in various organs and tissues.

The radiological dangers of pure depleted uranium are relatively low, lower (60%) than those of naturally-occurring uranium due to the removal of the more radioactive isotopes, as well as due to its long half-life (4.46 billion years). Depleted uranium differs from natural uranium in its isotopic composition, but its biochemistry is for the most part the same. For further details see Actinides in the environment.

Chemical Toxicity

Health effects of DU are determined by factors such as the extent of exposure and whether it was internal or external. Three main pathways exist by which internalization of uranium may occur: inhalation, ingestion, and shrapnel contamination. Properties such as the solubility of uranium and its compounds influence their absorption, distribution, translocation, elimination and the resulting toxicity. The chemical toxicity of Depleted Uranium is much greater than it's radiological toxicity.

Uranium is pyrophoric when finely divided. It will corrode under the influence of air and water producing insoluble uranium(IV) and soluble uranium(VI) salts. Soluble uranium salts are toxic. Uranium accumulates in several organs, such as the liver, spleen, and kidneys. The World Health Organization has established a daily "tolerated intake" of soluble uranium salts for the general public of 0.5 µg/kg body weight, or 35 µg for a 70 kg adult.

While epidemiological studies on laboratory animals exposed to high levels of depleted uranium point to it as being a possible teratogen ,neurotoxic , and carcinogen and leukemogenic potential , there has been no definite link between possible health effects in laboratory animals and humans.

Studies of depleted uranium aerosol exposure have concluded that uranium combustion product particles would quickly settle out of the air . Measurements made in areas where depleted uranium munitions were used extensively found no significantly higher than average uranium concentrations in the soil, just a few months after contamination. Most studies have shown that DU ammunition has no measurable detrimental health effects, either in the short or long term. The International Atomic Energy Agency, for example, reported in 2003 that, "based on credible scientific evidence, there is no proven link between DU exposure and increases in human cancers or other significant health or environmental impacts," although "Like other heavy metals, DU is potentially poisonous. In sufficient amounts, if DU is ingested or inhaled it can be harmful because of its chemical toxicity. High concentration could cause kidney damage". A RAND has also studied the health effects on Depleted Uranium and has concluded that the debate around the issue is more political than technical. The study commented that “the full and unbiased presentation of the facts to governments around the world has resulted in the continued use of DU — even in the face of concerted actions by some to distort the facts and media often more interested in shock value than in presenting the truth”.

The Basra hospital data

Following the first gulf war, scientists at the Basra hospital and university have monitored the incidence of leukaemias and other malignancies among children in the Basra area, and of congenital malformations in newborn children. The data for the period 1990–2001 show an incidence increase of 426% for general malignancies, 366% for leukemias and of over 600% for birth defects, with all series showing a roughly increasing pattern with time. These data, being the largest set of epidemiological data available for the Iraqi population, have received considerable attention; and since it reported a very large increase in those pathologies which are known or strongly suspected to be related to uranium poisoning, it has been natural to consider the possibility that such increase had indeed been caused by depleted uranium contamination. The connection, however, is far from being obvious or proven: first of all, there is a considerable delay (at least ten years) between the occurrence of contaminations and the peak of incidence of malformations and malignancies, which leads to speculative hypotheses about the process of accumulation of uranium in the human body; and secondarily, there could be other causes or concurrent causes, for example different kinds of pollution related or unrelated to the war (e.g. burning oil wells), or the 1990–2003 Iraq sanctions which led to a collapse of the Iraqi economy and in general to a dramatic impoverishment of the population with a sharp decrease of nutritional and hygienic conditions (which alone, however, cannot explain why the increase in congenital defects is the highest observed). The prevailing scientific view on the matter , is that this data, and other scarce data available, prove no conclusively poisoning effect of depleted uranium.

Other relevant contamination cases

On October 4, 1992, an El Al Boeing 747-F cargo aircraft Flight 1862, crashed into an apartment building in Amsterdam. Local residents and rescue workers complained of various unexplained health issues which were being attributed to the release of hazardous materials during the crash and subsequent fires. Authorities conducted an epidemiological study in 2000 of those believed to be affected by the accident. The study concluded that there was no evidence to link depleted uranium (used as a counter balance in the plane) to any of the reported health complaints.

Gulf War syndrome and soldier complaints

Increased rates of immune system disorders and other wide-ranging symptoms, including chronic pain, fatigue and memory loss, have been reported in over one quarter of combat veterans of the 1991 Gulf War . It has not always been clear whether these were related to Gulf War service, but combustion products from depleted uranium munitions are still being considered as one of the potential causes by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, as DU was used in tank kinetic energy penetrator and machine-gun bullets on a large scale for the first time in the Gulf War.

Some American soldiers more recently employed are also complaining of symptoms or illnesses which they attribute to exposure to depleted uranium. In early 2004, the UK Pensions Appeal Tribunal Service attributed birth defect claims from a February 1991 Gulf War combat veteran to depleted uranium poisoning.

A two year study headed by Sandia National Laboratories’ Al Marshall analyzed potential health effects associated with accidental exposure to depleted uranium during the 1991 Gulf War. Marshall’s study concluded that the reports of serious health risks from DU exposure are not supported by veteran medical statistics and were consistent with earlier studies from Los Alamos and the New England Journal of Medicine.

The U.S. Army has commissioned ongoing research into potential risks of depleted uranium and other projectile weapon materials like tungsten. Studies by the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute have concluded that even though it was unlikely that future studies will alter the view that moderate exposures to either depleted uranium or uranium present a significant toxicological threat, the research was still useful to quantify risk exposure. A similar study from the Australian defense ministry concluded that “there has been no established increase in mortality or morbidity in workers exposed to uranium in uranium processing industries”, and that “studies of Gulf War veterans show that, in those who have retained fragments of depleted uranium following combat related injury, it has been possible to detect elevated urinary uranium levels, but no kidney toxicity or other adverse health effects related to depleted uranium after a decade of follow-up.”

Further reading

Scientific bodies

• Canadian Uranium Medical Research Centre
• German World Uranium Weapons Conference
• UK Depleted Uranium Oversight Board
• US Health Physics Society

United Nations

• "Depleted Uranium: Sources, Exposure and Health Effects," World Health Organization, Ionizing Radiation Unit, 2001 (see Chapter 8, "The Chemical Toxicity of Uranium," in particular.)
• "Human rights and weapons of mass destruction, or with indiscriminate effect, or of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering"
  (The UN 2002 report)
• The "Report of the World Health Organization Depleted Uranium Mission to Kosovo" (Draft text 28 January 2001). Undertaken at the request of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), from 22 January to 31 January 2001.
• Depleted Uranium and the IAEA

Scientific reports

• "A Review of the Scientific Literature As It Pertains to Gulf War Illnesses" by RAND
• U.S. Center for Disease Control's Toxicological Profile for Uranium (includes discussion of teratogenic and immunotoxic effects)
• Hindin, R. et al. (2005) "Teratogenicity of depleted uranium aerosols: A review from an epidemiological perspective," Environmental Health, vol. 4, pp. 17.
• Domingo, J.L. (2001) "Reproductive and developmental toxicity of natural and depleted uranium: a review" Reproductive Toxicology, 15, 603–609.
• Monleau, M. et al. (2005) "Bioaccumulation and behavioural effects of depleted uranium in rats exposed to repeated inhalations," Neuroscience Letters, vol. 390, pp. 31-6.
• Lestaevel, P. et al. (2005) "The brain is a target organ after acute exposure to depleted uranium" Toxicology, 212, 219–226.
• Depleted Uranium article from the Royal Society
• An Analysis of Uranium Dispersal and Health Effects Using a Gulf War Case Study by Sandia National Laboratories
• Depleted Uranium Human Health Fact Sheet by Argonne National Laboratory Environmental Assessment Division
• Uranium Human Health Fact Sheet

Other publications

• Gulflink answers to FAQ's on military use of depleted uranium
• Depleted uranium: the health debate Extract from article discussing the medical effects of depleted uranium
• "After the Dust Settles" (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists report from 1999)
• Campaign Against Depleted Uranium
• Depleted UF6 Management Information Network – on U.S. Department of Energy's inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride.
• Guardian Unlimited's Special Report on Depleted Uranium
• International Atomic Energy Agency Depleted Uranium FAQ
• Proposal for Research on Depleted Uranium (UK Ministry of Defence)
• UK MOD Directorate of Safety & Claims (DS&C) Health Physics - Depleted Uranium

Video

• Depleted Uranium Hazard Awareness US Army training video (1995)

Footnotes

1. ""Depleted Uranium: Sources, Exposure and Health Effects," World Health Organization, Ionizing Radiation Unit, 2001" (PDF).
2. Doug Rokke Depleted Uranium: Uses and Hazards (PDF) an updated version of the paper presented in the British House of Commons on December 16, 1999
3. (Associated Press, August 12, 2006, free archived copy at: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0812-06.htm most recently visited November 1, 2006)
4. The International Legality of the Use of Depleted Uranium Weapons: A Precautionary Approach, Avril McDonald, Jann K. Kleffner and Brigit Toebes, eds. (TMC Asser Press Fall-2003)
5. legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons
6. Citizen Inspectors Foiled in Search for DU Weapons
7. Depleted Uranium UN Resolutions
8. Sub-Commission resolution 1996/16
9. Sub-Commission resolution 1997/36
10. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/38 Human rights and weapons of mass destruction, or with indiscriminate effect, or of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering (backup) "In its decision 2001/36 of 16 August 2001, the Sub‑Commission, recalling its resolutions 1997/36 and 1997/37 of 28 August 1997, authorized Mr. Y.K.J. Yeung Sik Yuen to prepare, without financial implications, in the context of human rights and humanitarian norms, the working paper originally assigned to Ms. Forero Ucros."
11. The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report: Use of DU weapons could be war crime CNN January 14, 2001
12. Joe Sills et al Environmental Crimes in Military Actions and the International Criminal Court (ICC)-United Nations Perspectives (PDF) (HTML) of American Council for the UN University, April 2002. Page 28
13. The Final Report to the Prosecutor by the Committee Established to Review the NATO Bombing Campaign Against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Use of Depleted Uranium Projectiles
14. "ICBUW's membership includes 85 groups in 22 countries worldwide". The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
15. "Session Document: European Parliament resolution on the harmful effects of unexploded ordnance (landmines and cluster submunitions) and depleted uranium ammunition" (PDF). 10 February 2003. Retrieved 2007-03-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
16. "European Parliament Makes Fourth Call for DU Ban". The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons. 22 November 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. "DU: Some NATO Countries Reject Moratorium". UN Wire. 11 January 2001. Retrieved 2007-03-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
18. "Depleteduranium - epetition reply". The Prime Minister's Office. 22 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
19. http://fhp.osd.mil/du/healthEffects.jsp
21. ,
25. Henryk Bema, Firyal Bou-Rabeeb. Environmental and health consequences of depleted uranium use in the 1991 Gulf War
26. Bernard D. Rostker . Depleted Uranium, A Case Study of Good and Evil. RAND Corporation
27. Uijt de Haag P.A. and Smetsers R.C. and Witlox H.W. and Krus H.W. and Eisenga A.H. (2000). "Evaluating the risk from depleted uranium after the Boeing 747-258F crash in Amsterdam, 1992". J Hazard Mater.
28. Associated Press via Wired. U.S. Soldiers Are Sick of It. August 12, 2006
29. Williams, M. (February 9, 2004) "First Award for Depleted Uranium Poisoning Claim," The Herald Online, (Edinburgh: Herald Newspapers, Ltd.)
30. Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (Spring, 2004) "MoD Forced to Pay Pension for DU Contamination," CADU News 17
31. An Analysis of Uranium Dispersal and Health Effects Using a Gulf War Case Study, Albert C. Marshall, Sandia National Laboratories
32. Status of Health Concerns about Military Use of Depleted Uranium and Surrogate Metals in Armor-Penetrating Munitions
33. [http://www.defence.gov.au/DPE/DHS/infocentre/publications/journals/NoIDs/adfhealth_sept02/ADFHealth_3_2_50-57.pdf Military medical aspects of depleted uranium munitions

• Uranium
• Nuclear materials
• Ammunition
• Alloys
• Vehicle armour
• Weapons
• Gulf War syndrome