A Word About Uranium
Uranium is the 92nd element of the periodic table. Each atom of uranium has 92 protons packed within its nucleus, and around that nucleus orbits 92 electrons. In nature, uranium is found in three varieties — three isotopes — that differ from one another by the number of neutrons sharing their respective nuclei. Uranium-238 possesses 146 neutrons, uranium-235 possesses 143 neutrons, and uranium-234 possesses 142 neutrons. The uranium found in the Earth’s crust is a mixture of these three isotopes. 99.28% of the uranium found in nature is uranium-238. 0.71% is uranium-235. And 0.0058% is uranium-234.
In 1938, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman split the uranium atom. During the following
year, it was discovered that the fission of uranium released neutrons that could proceed
to split further uranium atoms thereby initiating a chain reaction that liberated the
energy bound within the atomic nucleus. Preliminary investigations into the possibility of
creating an atomic bomb revealed that such an explosive chain reaction required a mass of
uranium enriched to the point where it contained uranium-235 in a concentration of
approximately 90%. On the other hand, the sustained chain reaction within a nuclear
reactor required uranium fuel slightly enriched to a concentration of approximately 3-6%
uranium-235. Prior to the fabrication of the first atomic bomb during World War II, industrial
processes were developed for accomplishing the incredibly sophisticated feat of separating
atoms of uranium-235 from those of uranium-238 — a difference in weight of a
mere three neutrons. The pure uranium that was fed into this enrichment process was
made up of the three isotopes in the same concentrations as the uranium found in nature.
Flowing out from the process were two products. One was enriched uranium containing
the required concentration of uranium-235 for nuclear reactor fuel or a nuclear weapon.
The other was depleted uranium, uranium whose U-235 content had been depleted from
0.71% to approximately 0.2%. Over the decades, the United States has accumulated an
enormous quantity of depleted uranium, by some estimates equaling approximately
700,000 metric tons.
All atoms of uranium are radioactive. At some point in their lifetime, they spontaneously
undergo radioactive decay and emit subatomic particles and energy from their
nuclei. When this process occurs in the crust of the Earth, it is of no consequence to life.
Decay while the atom is entrapped within the body of a living organism, however, is altogether
different. When the radiation from a radioactive atom is released into a biological
medium, it creates damage to the molecular structures that make up that living system.
Living organisms possess natural repair mechanisms that are immediately activated when
this type of injury occurs. The central problem in the science of radiation protection is to
determine the dose of radiation and the rate of delivery that can be successfully managed
by these repair mechanisms before irreparable harm is caused which, in time, manifests
itself as altered functioning and ill health.
Uranium-238, which makes up over 99% of depleted uranium, decays very slowly
relative to other radioactive isotopes. As an example, if you start with 1,000 atoms of
iodine-131, over a period of eight days half of those atoms will undergo radioactive decay,
emitting radiation into the surrounding medium in the form of particles and energy. Those
500 decaying atoms are transformed into the stable isotope xenon-131. With the passage
of another eight days, half of the remaining 500 atoms of iodine-131 will decay, leaving
only 250. This process continues every eight days, halving the remaining quantity of iodine
until no more remains. In contrast, the half-life of plutonium-239 is 24,000 years. Starting
with a sample of 1,000 atoms, it takes 24,000 years for 500 of those atoms to undergo
radioactive decay, another 24,000 years for a reduction to 250 atoms, and so forth.
Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4,500,000,000 (4.5 billion) years. Despite this long half-life,
uranium incorporated into the human body is not radiologically benign. A tiny uranium
particle one micron in diameter — one millionth of a meter — consists of hundreds of billions
of atoms. Within this vast quantity, individual atoms are decaying on a regular basis,
emitting radiation into the cells immediately surrounding the particle. Nevertheless,
because uranium decays so slowly, the vast majority of health physicists are of the opinion
that, in the concentrations likely to develop within the human body, it presents no hazard
to health.
During Operation Desert Storm, the Iraq war of 1991, the United States deployed
a new type of munition containing depleted uranium. This unique form of ammunition
was heralded by the Pentagon as a superweapon of miraculous capability. Due to uranium’s
high density, rounds made of the metal can slice through any type of armor, rendering
all tanks and land vehicles, airplanes and ships, vulnerable to penetration and destruction.
There is only one drawback to this new weaponry. Uranium is pyrophoric. The high
heat of impact sets it ablaze. The resulting inferno liberates huge quantities of microscopic
uranium particles into the air which, if inhaled by soldiers on the battlefield or civilians
downwind, can pose a detriment to health.
The Department of Defense of the United States has repeatedly affirmed that
weapons containing depleted uranium present no radiological hazard to human health. In
agreement with this assessment, a number of highly prestigious organizations from around
the world have published studies declaring that the radioactivity of uranium represents no
cause for concern. These include the National Research Council, the Department of
Health and Human Services and the Rand Corporation in the United States, the Ministry
of Defence and the Royal Society in the United Kingdom, NATO, the European
Commission, the European Parliament, the World Health Organization and the United
Nations Environment Program.
These official proclamations vouching that it is safe to scatter uranium dust over the
surface of the Earth emit the stench of political propaganda. The science of radiation protection
as it applies to internal contamination by uranium does not support the party line
being peddled. The issues are far from being as clear-cut as the august authors of the official
reports want us to believe. In fact, a great deal of evidence exists that suggests that uranium
weapons can produce significant damage to health in those who inhale the radioactive
aerosols.
The dispersal of radioactivity across the homelands of human populations is a direct
challenge to the whole of humankind to come to terms with the true nature of uranium
weapons. Either these armaments are as safe as their defenders claim, or they are recklessly
and indiscriminately hazardous to human health. If the first option is true, we can rest
easy in the knowledge that humankind and the biological integrity of our planet are being
protected by the weaponeers and the scientific organizations that speak on their behalf. If
the latter option proves true, it will bear ample testimony to the fact that humanity has
indeed been the victim of an anthropoid ravish. It will indicate that all those highly trusted
and respected institutions that issue defenses of militarized uranium are, like an
omnipresent dark brotherhood, trafficking in falsehood so as to disguise the momentous
misdeeds of those who field these weapons. The stakes being played for in the dispute over
the safety of depleted uranium weaponry are these: Which version of reality will gain
ascendancy?.
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