Review of the Toxicologic and Radiologic Risks to Military Personnel from Exposures to Depleted Uranium During and After Combat (2008) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction and Technical Background
1 Introduction and Technical Background
Pages 9-17
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From page 9... ...
It is the heaviest commonly occurring natural element and is found in virtually all geologic materials and, as a consequence, in virtually all natural waters, plants, and animals, as shown in Table 1-1. Natural uranium consists of three isotopes with atomic masses of about 234, 235, and 238.
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From page 10... ...
Contaminants that remain in the uranium after chemical processing -- such as fission products,1 transuranic elements,2 and other trace contaminants -- can therefore enter the enrichment process. Minor amounts of fission products and transuranic elements were introduced into the uraniumenrichment system in the 1960s and 1970s when the United States reprocessed 1 Uranium fission produces two atoms with unequal atomic mass known as fission products.
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From page 11... ...
At least three processes can introduce contaminants: ingrowth of radioactive progeny nuclides due to series decay of 238U (see Table 1-2) , the presence of fission products from reprocessed reactor fuel (see Table 1-3)
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From page 12... ...
. DU penetrators were used in combat by U.S.
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From page 13... ...
Table 1-4 summarizes the use of DU penetrators in the Persian Gulf War, the Balkans, and the Iraq War. The other primary weapons platforms that fired DU penetrators were the M1A1 Abrams tank and the UK Challenger tank, both of which fire a 120-mm, 4,700-g (about 10-lb)
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From page 14... ...
A number of fires involving Abrams tanks and an ammunition explosion and fire at Camp Doha, Kuwait, that burned, oxidized, and fragmented many DU rounds created potential exposure of soldiers operating in the vicinity and involved in cleanup operations. Other military personnel may have been exposed to DU by inhalation or ingestion of DU residues resuspended by their activities when they entered Iraqi vehicles damaged by DU munitions.
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From page 15... ...
The Capstone Report also included exposure estimates for level II and level III activities that involved Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles destroyed by DU munitions. COMMITTEE TASK AND APPROACH Because of exposure of many soldiers in Operation Desert Storm and the Balkan War and because of concern about potential future exposures of soldiers, civilian contractor workers, and civilian residents who reoccupy battlefield areas, the Army asked the National Research Council's Committee on Toxicology (COT)
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From page 16... ...
It also reviewed and evaluated methods used for generating and measuring aerosols produced by the firing of DU projectiles into Abrams tanks and Bradley vehicles; the mathematical models used to calculate exposures to DU through inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact; and the methods used to assess noncancer and cancer risks to exposed military personnel. REPORT ORGANIZATION The remainder of this report is organized into seven chapters.
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From page 17... ...
Appendix A provides biographic information on the committee, and Appendix B a detailed description of the epidemiologic studies mentioned in the report.
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