Distinguished guests and fellow Legionnaires, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today about a very important topic, the health of the men and women who protect us all by their service in our armed forces. The issue has been raised, Could the unexplained illnesses affecting many of those who served in the Gulf War be the result of exposure to depleted uranium (DU)? In addition, by implication, the question has been asked, " Is it safe to continue to use depleted uranium as shielding in our tanks and, offensively as armor piercing rounds." The best answer I can give you is based on testing conducted prior to fielding depleted uranium, testing after the war of the environment on the battlefield of Kuwait, and medical research and monitoring after the Gulf War of those we know who have been injured. The best answer is the actual exposure to depleted uranium is not medically significant. Let me be precise, to date DU exposure has not produced any medically detectable effects.

The only soldiers on the battlefield who should be concerned about DU are the Iraqi soldiers, not because it might have a long term effect on their health, but because their tanks and armored personnel carriers provided them with no protection from our DU munitions. DU rounds ripped through their tanks like a hot knife through butter, and their guns were totally, and I mean totally, ineffective in penetrating American armor protected with DU shielding. DU did have an effect on the battlefield. It undoubtedly saved thousands of American lives. Just ask any American tanker if he wants to face the Republican Guard in battle without every advantage we can provide him, including DU shielding and DU SABOT rounds.

There are several pieces of information concerning DU you need to know to make an informed judgment about DU.

• First, you need to know what DU is and what it is not. We all grew up in the nuclear age and we all have a deep seated fear of anything associated with the word uranium, or the atomic warning symbol. That is why you need to know specifically about DU.
• Second, you need to know about the extensive testing done on both the effectiveness of DU shielding and rounds, and its safety.
• Third, you need to know about our efforts to fully report to you on the use of DU during the Gulf War. This includes developing exposure scenarios, identifying those exposed during friendly fire and other incidents, or those who handled equipment struck by DU rounds, and estimates of likely exposures for each scenario.
• Fourth and finally, you need to know about our existing and new programs to monitor those who might have been exposed to DU, to monitor the battlefield in Kuwait where DU rounds were used and where enemy vehicles were struck by DU rounds are stored, and to ensure that all American troops who might, in the future, come into contact with DU or vehicles struck by DU rounds are properly trained.

First, you need to know what DU is and what it is not.

Depleted uranium is exactly what its name implies. It is what is left after enriched uranium is extracted from uranium ore. Enriched uranium is used as nuclear fuel and in nuclear weapons. DU is approximately 40% less radioactive than natural uranium. In fact, because DU has very low radioactivity, its major hazard is as a heavy metal, much like lead. Unfired DU rounds pose virtually no radiological hazard because it is shielded in a thin metal jacket. After DU hits a target it may burn and form DU oxides. This may pose a potential hazard if it is inhaled, or ingested, or absorbed in a wound. The problem, of course, depends upon the exposure and dose received.

Second, you need to know about the extensive testing done on both the effectiveness of DU shielding and rounds, and its safety.

DU munitions were developed in the mid-1970s when it became clear that tungsten carbide rounds could not defeat the latest generation of Soviet armor. Extensive testing of DU has established the level of safety for those who work around DU. For example, a tank driver who was inside a fully loaded tank all year long would not exceed the occupational limit. The current dose limit for skin would only be exceeded if unshielded DU remains in direct and continuous contact with the skin for more than 250 hours. While these tests concluded that DU did not appear to be any more toxic than lead or other heavy metals, it was noted that in combat situations, there was a potential problem from inhalation, ingestion and implantation of fragments.

Third, you need to know about our efforts to fully report to you on the use of DU during the Gulf War.

Following the well regarded health risk assessment model, my office is sponsoring three coordinated efforts. We will report later in the spring on our detailed reconstruction of the conditions and circumstances surrounding thirteen DU exposure scenarios. The RAND Corporation is providing a comprehensive review of the scientific and medical literature. And, CHPPM - the Army's Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine - has undertaken an assessment of potential doses associated with each scenario.

I can tell you now that we have categorized the thirteen scenarios into three Tiers or groupings based on exposures.

• Tier 1 is the highest exposure group, it includes soldiers who were in or near combat vehicles at the time DU rounds struck, or entered the vehicles immediately afterwards. Some of these soldiers were struck by DU fragments. Others inhaled DU particles, or had DU contaminate their wounds. CHPPM's preliminary estimate of worst case exposure, based on test data and assuming that the DU rounds impacted a DU protected, heavy Abrams tank, is that the estimated radiation exposure is about one years background radiation, about the same radiation dose as a person would get from living in the United States for ONE YEAR. We estimate there were 113 US troops in Tier 1. Thirty three are already enrolled in a health assessment program with the VA. Of the thirty three, sixteen have DU fragments still in their bodies. The remaining eighty will be contacted and enrolled in the VA program this spring.
• Tier 2 are soldiers who worked in and around vehicles struck by DU - mostly wrecks of American vehicles struck during friendly fire incidents - as well as personnel who took part in the clean-up after the fire at Camp Doha. These exposures were less than the worst case I just mentioned. While we don't have a specific count of the number of people in Tier 2, we know that it is likely to be a few hundred, and we will build a more complete list as we notify those whose names we already have.
• Tier 3 includes all others who have "incidental" contacts. This group includes individuals who may have entered Iraqi equipment, or who were down wind from vehicles that burned after being struck by a DU round. Based on existing research, we believe this group received minimal exposure. Based upon this research and monitoring, we have no plans to provide special screening beyond that already available to all Gulf War veterans at their request.

Fourth and finally, you need to know about

• our existing and new programs to monitor those that might have been exposed to DU,
• our efforts to monitor the battlefield in Kuwait where DU rounds were used and where enemy vehicles struck with DU rounds are stored, and
• to ensure that all American troops who might come into contact with DU or vehicles struck by DU rounds in the future are properly trained.

The Department of Veterans Affairs at their facility in Baltimore Maryland has been monitoring the health status of thirty-three Tier 1 soldiers who were directly engaged in the friendly fire incidents. This includes sixteen soldiers with DU fragments still in their bodies. Formal publication of results by the VA will be made through the scientific peer review process, but only those with retained DU fragments show any elevated levels of uranium in their urine. The Kidney is the most sensitive organ for DU exposure. None have any evidence of Kidney damage to date

You also should know that we have been working with VA Headquarters, the VA in Baltimore, and the Army as the DOD executive agent to extend the medical assessment and monitoring program to the remainder of Tier 1 and then to Tier 2. In fact, this week the VA is sponsoring nation-wide training for their staff that will be used for the new screening.

I think you will also be interested in knowing that we have been monitoring the former battlefield in Kuwait to evaluate the potential occupational and environmental hazards to personnel currently deployed to the region. This directly relates to speculation by the group Swords to Plowshares and the National Gulf War Resource Center that DU on the battlefield might be the cause of illness in the Iraqi and Kuwaiti population. In late 1994, a 16 member medical team was deployed to Kuwait and examined the "Boneyard," where DU-destroyed Iraqi vehicles are stored. They tested the destroyed vehicles for radiation at the point where DU rounds penetrated, at other parts of the vehicles and took wipe samples inside and outside the vehicles, as well as soil samples in the drainage pathways on the site. They also used personal lapel breathing zone samples to monitor personnel exposures during sampling activities at the site. While the area around the entry and exit holes exhibited radioactivity above background, the wipe samples measuring removable contamination were within regulatory limits. The soil and air samples were at background levels.

Many have been critical of DOD because we have not adequately carried out the required DU education program. Last January, Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre directed the Services to provide DU training. All of the Services have responded. The Army will add a new DU task to the Soldiers Manual of Common Tasks Skill Level 1. This task will target every soldier, active and reserve, in the Army. The Navy and Marine Corps will include DU awareness through medical safety training and during fleet readiness training. The Air Force will include DU awareness in their readiness training packages, and all personnel on mobility status and those deployed to high threat areas will be trained.

Let me summarize:

• DU is approximately 40% less radioactive than natural uranium. In fact, because DU has very low radioactivity, its major hazard is as a heavy metal, much like lead. Unfired DU rounds pose virtually no radiological hazard because it is shielded in a thin metal jacket.
• DU munitions were developed in the mid-1970s when it became clear that tungsten carbide rounds could not defeat the latest generation of Soviet armor. Extensive testing of DU has established the level of safety for those that work around DU. While these tests concluded that DU did not appear to be any more toxic than lead or other heavy metals, it did note that in combat situation, there was a potential problem from inhalation, ingestion and implantation of fragments.
• We have grouped the thirteen scenarios of potential DU exposure into three Tiers. CHPPM's preliminary assessment of worst case exposure, based on test data from DU rounds impacting a DU protected Abrams tank is that the estimated exposure is about the same radiation dose as a person would get from living in the United States for ONE YEAR.
• The Department of Veterans Affairs has been monitoring the health status of thirty-three soldiers directly engaged in the friendly fire incidents. This includes sixteen soldiers with DU fragments still in their bodies. Formal publication of their findings will be made through the scientific peer review process, but only those with retained DU fragments show any elevated levels of uranium in their urine. The Kidney is the most sensitive organ for DU effects. None have evidence of Kidney damage to date. Even with these findings DOD and the VA will extend the medical assessment and monitoring program to the remainder of Tier 1 and then to Tier 2.
• As part of our new emphasis we have been monitoring the environment in Kuwait. In 1994, the Army monitored the most heavily DU contaminated area where the Iraqi destroyed vehicles were stored and all of the levels were within acceptable regulatory requirements.
• Lastly, Deputy Secretary of Defense John Hamre has directed the Services to place a new emphasis on DU training.

A final comment: As I noted in the beginning, DU did have an effect on the battlefield. It undoubtedly saved thousands of American lives. Just ask any American tanker. Moreover, the extensive testing before the war and monitoring of those most exposed to DU after the war, shows that exposure to DU on the battlefield is not medically significant.

Return to GulfLINK