A later analysis concluded that some of the depleted uranium used during the war contained traces of plutonium and uranium 236¿neither of which occur naturally, but are created during nuclear fission. This discovery made the origins of the DU a hot political issue and raised additional health concerns because both materials are far more radioactive than regular DU. As it turned out, though, the traces of U236 were so small that they did not change the radioactivity of the depleted uranium; so too, the plutonium content varied from a negligible 0.8 to 12.87 becquerel per kilogram.

Although depleted uranium may not pose an immediate threat, because it is both radioactive and toxic, some action is warranted. Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the UNEP, sums up the recommendations made by the Balkans Task Force in 1999: "Highest priority should be given to finding pieces of depleted uranium and heavily contaminated surfaces. Measures should be taken for the secure storage of any contaminated material recovered.

1 Comments

1. 1. michalchik 05:51 PM 2/27/08

   Of those, only 2 to 5 percent are actually taken into the blood stream through the digestive system, making it a negligible source of radiation. "That would be the smallest possible source of exposure," says Brenner. "Because, again, the alpha particles would then be within some stuff, within liquid or whatever and it wouldn't have enough range to get out."
   
   This statement is patent nonsense. When the uranium is absorbed into the body from food or water it is in intimate contact with tissues. You will literally have uranium atoms sitting on DNA and when they decay you won't just have alpha particals effecting dna, even the recoil of the nuclei will transfer damaging energy to the surrounding areas.

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