By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
Known for “piercing” armor and sharpening and “igniting” after contact, Depleted Uranium tank rounds have been fired by US Army Abrams and other tanks for decades, as they are known as an optimal method of destroying enemy armored vehicles … particularly in tank-on-tank warfare.
Following heated and well-publized criticisms from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Depleted Uranium presented extreme health risks including an increased risk for certain types of cancers. Citing international use of the DU rounds and a number of official sources, Pentagon officials flat out contradicted and dismissed Russian criticisms regarding the use of the rounds.
“The CDC has stated that there is no evidence that the depleted uranium rounds cause cancer. The World Health Organization reports that there has been no increase of leukemia or other cancers and — that have been established following any exposure to uranium or D.U. And even the IAEA has stated unequivocally that there is no proven link between D.U. exposure and increases in cancers or significant health or environmental impacts,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters, according to a Pentagon transcript.
An interesting write up on the BBC quotes the International Atomic Energy Agency in an excerpt which seems to verify and validate the Pentagon’s citation. Depleted Uranian cannot generate a nuclear reaction and is considered “considerably less radioactive than natural uranium”, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency,'” the BBC essay says.
An essay published in the International Atomic Energy Agency’s “Journal of Environmental Radioactivity” further affirms this assessment. Although the IAEA does cite risks associated with internal consumption of DU through contaminated water and food, there does not appear to be acute risk associated with external exposure, particularly if limited and not chronic.
“Due to the low specific radioactivity and the dominance of alpharadiation no acute risk is attributed to external exposure to DU,” the essay states. Another scholarly assessment of DU in the National Institute of Health, National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information verifies that indeed the substantial risk appears to be associated with internal consumption, something not likely to occur with the firing of tank rounds.
“Internal exposure to DU is more important and can occur through ingestion of DU-contaminated water and food and inhalation of DU aerosols. There is limited information about health effects and mechanism of DU after environmental exposure,” the essay states.
DU rounds have been used in warfare for decades, and it appears they will also be fired by the British Challenger 2 in Ukraine as well.
“They’re meant to pierce tanks, and they’re meant to be used — they will be used very effectively on the battlefield. These are standard issued rounds. These are what these Abrams tanks will use, and many militaries across the world use depleted uranium in their tanks. So we feel that these will be the most effective rounds to counter Russian tanks,” Singh said.
Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – the Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
