Poisoning the world one child at a time

That kinda surprises me. I always thought Uranium, even in dust form, would be too heavy to be carried by wind that far. The Punjab is about 500km from Afghanistan, but I don't believe they used much DU in Afghanistan as there just weren't a lot of armored Taliban units that needed it. It would have had to come from Iraq, which is much further. I wonder if there could be another source for the uranium.
 
Glaucus said:
but I don't believe they used much DU in Afghanistan as there just weren't a lot of armored Taliban units that needed it.
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The Taliban had about 100 tanks and 250 other armoured vehicles, apparently and the US had just tons of DU munitions lying around and itching to get used. They almost certainly would not NOT use it. It's the most effective penetrator they have and they got lots of it.

They could also have been used for cave busting in the mountains. A lot of these munitions would have been delivered by air.

DU has been detected in many places in Afghanistan and the country is arid and prone to dust storms. There is the density issue but it seems to be able to travel nonetheless. Substantial amounts of the uranium pyrolyze to various oxides and they are much less dense than the metal and usually form a fine dust that is much easier for the wind to pick up. The finer the particle, the further it can go.

It'll be hard to know just how many tons they dropped with the US military owning up (or wikileaks dropping the docs) but DU is used extensively - it's basically a waste product from nuke production and there's not much else you can do with stuff but drop it on people you don't like. Other penetrator materials are less effective but more industrially useful.
 
Ya, I didn't think the Taliban had that many tanks that actually still worked. But still, the amount of DU used in Afghanistan must be far less then what they used in Iraq, which I know was significant. And no argument about it's effects on people.

As far as bunker busters, those are usually thermobarics as they're the only type of weapon that can kill deep inside a fortified tunnel. But those are usually just fuel based explosives that create a lot of heat and pressure and can sustain it longer then a typical dynamite explosion.

DU has one other purpose: armor. Western tanks are covered in it.
 
It's a natural geological deposit contaminating the ground water in the area. :roll:

200 reverse osmosis plants of little use
Bipin Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 13 2009
Detection of high level of uranium in water in the Malwa belt of Punjab, especially in Bathinda, Faridkot, Mansa, Sangrur, Muktsar and Moga districts, have virtually halted the installation of reverse osmosis (RO) plants, set up by the state government, for safe water to villagers.

Like other heavy metals, uranium can not be neutralised by the RO technique. The Punjab government’s exercise of setting up of over 200 RO plants in Bathinda, Mansa and surrounding districts has proved futile. Experts claim that the government has to go for other techniques to decontaminate potable water of uranium and other heavy metals.

Dr Rohit Mehra, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, who examined hand pump water in 34 villages, found uranium in water was more alarming in Mansa district of Punjab compared to Faridkot.

The study found that the level of uranium, radium, thorium and potassium in soil samples was also higher. “The possible reasons for high level may be the extension of Tosham Hills under soils of Bathinda region, but for the final conclusion more analysis is required,” he said.

Dr Mehra claimed that the RO system was not suitable for the separation of uranium, radium, thorium and certain other heavy metals from the water. Instead of filtration, the RO plant could develop certain faults, he revealed.

The government should either go for some other technique for purifying the water for uranium and other heavy metals or only the canal water be used in RO plants. He, however, ruled out the possibility of high level of uranium in water drawn from deep bore wells.

On the presence of uranium in air, Dr Mehra claimed the mismanagement of fly ash in huge quantity in Bathinda might be another factor contaminating underground water as well as air. Mud houses, as loose soil contains uranium, and construction material having permissible quantity of fly ash, apart from marble and granite, should be avoided to get rid of the problem.

Chief Engineer (South), Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Punjab, SR Aggarwal, claimed that the government had taken up the setting up 98 RO plants in Bathinda district and 78 in Mansa district alone. Setting up of one RO plant costs from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.

“The plants are being installed in identified villages, besides those on the tail end of the canals. The department has been planning to get waters tested afresh from known laboratories and research centres after the apprehensions of uranium level in potable waster in the region,” claimed Aggarwal.
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There are several large Uranium leach mines in south Texas, and the ground water is contaminated with uranium in the areas around them, however the uranium was there long before the mining started.
 
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