May 31, 2005
Nukes in the News: Depleted Uranium Bill Introduced Into Congress
Washington, DC - Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA), a medical doctor, on May 17 introduced legislation with 21 original co-sponsors in the House of Representatives that calls for medical and scientific studies on the health and environmental impacts from the U.S. Military's use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions in combat zones, including Iraq. The McDermott bill also calls for cleanup and mitigation of sites in the U.S. contaminated by DU.
DU is a by-product of the uranium enrichment process; it is chemically toxic. and DU has low-level radioactivity. About 300 metric tons of DU munitions were fired during the first Gulf War, and about half that amount has been used to date in the Iraq War.
~Related: as of today this 'Depleted Uranium Bill' (which recently passed the Senate btw) is not a big news story according to google news search (95 results). The mainstream-media has very specific, tried and true, ways it broadcasts support for American service men and women. Reporting on legislation that asks for more research into the health effects of depleted uranium is apparently not their way of supporting the troops and their familes.
For what it's worth today's murder-suicide story from Ohio in which six family members have been killed is being carried by over 1,200 news outlets according to google.
Today I learned depleted uranium munitions were used in Vietnam and during the first Gulf War.
[image via google/ not with story]