Printable version from NI Global Issues for Learners of English:
Depleted Uranium Weapons
Nuclear waste was used in making weapons
Here is one of the Gulf War's worst secrets: The hard outer covering of a lot of the ammunition used against Iraq was made from nuclear waste. This nuclear waste is Depleted Uranium, which is often called DU.
Both the USA and Britain used these weapons against Iraq. However, the Allied soldiers and the people of the Allied countries did not know that Depleted Uranium weapons were being used.
AMMUNITION: bullets or shells that are fired from guns
ALLIED SOLDIERS: soldiers from the countries that fought against Iraq in the Gulf War
Why was DU used?
- DU is cheap because it is a waste product from the process of making enriched uranium.
- DU is very hard: it can easily make a hole in a tank, so it is an effective covering for weapons;
TANK: an armoured fighting vehicle (see picture)
What's the problem?
DU is dangerous to human life and health.
In 1996 the United Nations subcommission on Human Rights said that DU was a weapon of mass destruction, like napalm or cluster bombs.
NAPALM: a liquid that burns fiercely and is used in bombs
CLUSTER BOMBS: a bomb that throws off smaller bombs when it explodes
This information was taken from the article "Poisoned legacy " by Felicity Arbuthnot, which appeared in the September 1999 issue of the New Internationalist.© 1999: the New Internationalist
Last Modified: 2 Feb 2000