Waving off Russian criticism and allaying long-held fears about the harmful radioactive properties of Depleted Uranium (DU) shells that are to be supplied to Ukraine, the Pentagon or the US Department of Defence has said that DU exposure doesn’t lead to cancer or cause any harmful impact on the environment.
On Thursday, Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, said during a briefing: “The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) has stated that there is no evidence that the depleted uranium rounds cause cancer. The WHO reports that there has been no increase of leukaemia or other cancers and—that have been established following any exposure to uranium or DU.”
“And, even the IAEA has stated unequivocally that there is no proven link between DU exposure and increases in cancers or significant health or environmental impacts, so I would push back on that.”
The DU shells—meant to pierce through the heavy armour of tanks—are being sent to Ukraine to arm the Abrams tanks that will reach Ukraine this autumn.
Singh added: “These (DU ammo) 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… will help the Ukrainians… to defend their territory.”
The US is believed to have fired more than 400 tonnes of DU ammunition—both from fighter aircraft and tanks—in Iraq in 1991 and 2003.
Many studies have alluded to the harmful effects of the use of DU.
In 2013, a report by the IKV Pax Christi, an inter-church peace group at Utrecht in the Netherlands, had warned about the radioactive contamination spread by the use of DU ammo in Iraq and had estimated the DU clean-up at $30 million.
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs-funded report had documented evidence that DU ammo was fired even on civilian targets and not just armoured vehicles. The report had written about 365 contaminated sites, mostly in southern Iraq.
Media has reported that the US will supply 31 Abrams tanks—the US’ main battle tank—to Ukraine, of which an initial lot of about 6-10 Abrams tanks may reach Ukraine within a month or so.
The tanks will be of the M1A1 version and not the modern latest model which is the A2. Three variants of the Abrams are in operation—M1, M1A1, and M1A2.
The tanks will undergo some fitments and upgrades in Germany before being sent to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian military personnel have already undergone a 10-week long training programme in Germany in the use and operation of the tank.
The DU shells-equipped Abrams is expected to majorly aid the Ukrainian offensive to bulldoze through the entrenched Russian positions in occupied Ukraine that seem robust at the moment.