Peace Facts
by Lisa Ann Pierce, WAMM
Question:
In June, I read stories about the “Dirty Bomb” threat. Yet there is nothing in our local press about the depleted uranium artillery shells the U.S. used in the Gulf and in the former Yugoslavia. What is the difference between a “dirty bomb” and a depleted uranium munition? —Barbara Cracraft, WAMM
Answer:
A “dirty bomb” is a conventional weapon laced with radioactive material—usually radioactive waste products. Upon explosion, a “dirty bomb” contaminates the area with radioactive material, threatening the environment and exposed human beings. It is estimated that, depending on the nature of the explosive and radioactive materials used, as many as ten thousand people could be killed by such a weapon. A “dirty bomb” has never been deployed.
A depleted uranium (DU) munition is a conventional weapon with a core of a radioactive material that is a waste product of nuclear energy production. Upon explosion, a DU munition releases radioactive particles and dust, contaminating the environment and exposed human beings. According to former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, “between 300 and 800 tons of DU particles and dust have been scattered over the ground and the water in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.” Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Gulf War veterans are suffering from diseases believed by many to have been caused by DU. The United States has deployed depleted uranium weapons in the Persian Gulf, the former Yugoslavia, Vieques, and Afghanistan.
Arguably, both “dirty bombs” and DU weapons are illegal under the Geneva Convention.
Question:
Does Iraq have weapons of mass destruction?
Answer:
“No one has substantiated the allegations that Iraq possesses weapons of mass destruction or is attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction. And of course that is the reason we have been given for going to war against Iraq—because of the threat posed by these weapons. It has been nothing but rhetorically laced speculation, not hard facts, that have been presented by either the United States or Great Britain to back this up, and until they provide hard facts, there is no case for war.” –Scott Ritter, former U.N. weapons inspector, in an interview with CNN, July 17, 2002.
What Is “Spent” Nuclear Fuel?
“Spent” nuclear fuel is not tired. Spent nuclear fuel is hundreds of thousands of times more radioactive coming out of a nuclear reactor core than before it went into the core. Uranium-235 going into a reactor is barely above background radiation levels. It can be handled without protective clothing. Once inside the reactor, the U-235 atoms start to explode in a controlled nuclear chain reaction, releasing heat that boils the water that powers the turbines that generate electricity.
The exploding atoms, not neatly “split” but blown apart, become other atoms that are unstable. These atoms emit tremendous heat and radiation in their search for stability. Debris created by the explosions slow down the efficiency of the chain reaction and after four to six years, the fuel rods are replaced.
Irradiated fuel is so radioactive that exposure for less than one second at a distance of one yard to a single fuel rod (about .5 inch in diameter and 12 feet long) would kill you.
Spent fuel rods at Prairie Island are held in an indoor cooling pool for about ten years with Mississippi River water constantly flushed through. Then, at more than 600 degrees Fahrenheit, the rods are transferred to outdoor, above-ground storage casks. Spent fuel is dangerous to living things (the ecosystem) and must be isolated for 240,000 years.
—Susu Jeffrey from an interview with George Crocker, North American Water Office
Copyright © 2002 Women Against Military Madness. All rights reserved.