
(Photo: Frontline Films)
Uranium particles, whether pure uranium or in an oxidized form, are alpha emitters, and can be highly carcinogenic and mutagenic if ingested or inhaled, since they can lodge in one part of the body—the kidney or lung or gonad, for example—and then irradiate surrounding cells with large, destructive alpha particles (actually helium atoms), until some gene is compromised and a cell become malignant. (Lindorff, Dave, Pentagon Dirty Bomber: Depleted Uranium in the USA, The Public Record, Oct 26, 2009)
Depleted uranium dirty bombs killing us not so softly: Crime Against Humanity
Depleted uranium is what is left over after uranium is enriched. Enriched uranium can be used in nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium is made mostly of the isotope uranium-238. Uranium-238 is mildly radioactive but remains very dangerous to mammals. It is very dense, or heavy for its size. Because of this, depleted uranium is used in armor piercing bullets and heavy machine guns. Its high density allows weapons to put more energy into a fired bullet/munition, causing deep damage to targets. See: Long term health hazard of depleted uranium, never really depleted. (Depleted Uranium, Simple English Wikipedia, 2009)
Bullets made from depleted uranium burn when they hit something hard and their smoke is unsafe to breathe. Depleted uranium is now globally Blowin' in the Wind, the name of two-time Academy Award nominee, David Bradbury's award winning documentary on DU. (Trailer and full feature below)
Blowin' in the Wind film examines the secret treaty that is allowing the US Military to train and test its weaponry in Australia, one of the most important films of our time. This Frontline Film movie breaks denial that needs to happen for people to become empowered to co-create a more humane world.
David Stratton of Australia's At The Movies reviewed Blowin' in the Wind stating:
It suggests that the American armed forces are using uranium waste,
radio-active material, in their weapons; that shells and bullets coated with depleted uranium are being used as armour-piercing devices and that, as a result, wherever these weapons are used there is wide-scale radioactive contamination.In BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND his concern for the environment has resulted in a deeply disturbing film about the worst kind of radioactive pollution imaginable... should set alarm bells ringing the world over. (emphasis added)
There is no medical care or treatment for DU injury.
The military has released 4.1 million Nagasaki bombs worth of radiation in bullets with depleted uranium into the environment.
Among U.S. sites identified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as being contaminated with DU are:
Ft. Hood, TX
Ft. Benning, GA
Ft. Campbell, KY
Ft. Knox, KY
Ft. Lewis, WA
Ft. Riley, KS
Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD
Ft. Dix, NJ
Makua Military Reservation, HI
Other locations identified as having DU weapons contamination are:
China Lake Air Warfare Center, CA
Eglin AFB, Florida,
Nellis AFB, NV
Davis-Monthan AFB
Kirtland AFB, NM
White Sands Missile Range, NM
Ethan Allen Firing Range, VT
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology
"An application for a 99-year permit to test DU weapons at the NM Inst. Of Mining and Technology claimed that that site’s test area was 'so contaminated with DU…as to preclude any other use'!" (Lindorff)
Australia sits on 40% of the worlds' uranium. America wants the waste for weapons and to test them on our soil. Bliss & Eso provides a telling track to set off something nuclear in this trailer. David Bradbury's Blowin' in the Wind trailer and the 53 minute version of the Bradbury and Scott film is below.
Dave Lindorff is a Philadelphia-based journalist. He is author of Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Penalty Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal (Common Courage Press, 2003) and The Case for Impeachment (St. Martin’s Press, 2006). His work is available at thiscantbehappening.net
Blowin' in the Wind
Full Feature Documentary