URANIUM ROUNDS NEAR OKINAWA

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

URANIUM BULLETS NEAR OKINAWA

Associated Press this week ran a story, based upon a Washington Times 
report, that U.S. Marine Corps jets "accidentally fired 1,520 
radioactive bullets during a training exercise near Okinawa more than a 
year ago, but the Japanese government was not informed until last month 
..." These are the large armor-penetrating bullets that worked so 
effectively for the U.S. in the Persian Gulf War.

The firings took place at Tori Shima gunnery range, "an uninhabited 
coral island 62 miles from Okinawa." U.S. forces normally restrict test 
and practice firings of uranium munitions to make it easier to retrieve 
the metal, which is regulated domestically by the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission.

Uranium bullets, made up of "depleted" uranium - the isotopes left over 
when uranium is processed to concentrate fissionable material - are 
radioactive, but most of their emissions do not penetrate matter. 
However, the uranium oxide particles formed from uranium burns or 
corrodes are hazardous when inhaled - alpha particles are emitted 
within the lungs - or ingested. The threat to internal organs from 
ingestion derives from the heavy metal toxicity of uranium, not its 
radioactivity.

The news reports says that the U.S. explained that uranium rounds are 
considered conventional weapons. That's true, but that doesn't mean 
that there are no harmful effects of their use.

Lenny Siegel