Depleted Uranium Munitions

Depleted Uranium Munitions

Subject : International Relations

Section: Msc

Concept :

• The U.K. would provide Ukraine with armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium.

Depleted Uranium Munitions

• Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of uranium enrichment.
• Enriched uranium is highly radioactive and is used in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons.
• In comparison to enriched uranium, depleted uranium is much less radioactive and is incapable of generating a nuclear reaction.
• Due to its high density (more dense than lead), depleted uranium is widely used in weapons as it can easily penetrate armour plating.
• The US began manufacturing armour-piercing rounds with depleted uranium in the 1970s and has since added it to composite tank armour to strengthen it.
• Note :
• About 340 tons of depleted uranium were used in munitions during the 1991 Gulf War, and an estimated 11 tons in the Balkans in the late 1990s.
• Such rounds were developed by the U.S. during the Cold War to destroy Soviet tanks, including the same T-72 tanks that Ukraine now faces in its push to break through a stalemate in the east.

Weapons

• The US, Britain, Russia, China, France and Pakistan produce uranium weapons.
• Depleted uranium munitions are not classified as nuclear weapons, as per the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons.
• Still they emit low levels of radiation, mainly α-particles and can cause severe diseases.

Risks

• Ingesting or inhaling them depresses renal function and raises the risk of developing a range of cancers.
• Depleted uranium munitions which miss their target can poison groundwater and soil.