The Sunday Times February 19, 2006
UK radiation jump blamed on
Iraq shells
Mark Gould and Jon Ungoed-Thomas



The Sunday
Times - Britain
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2047373,00.html





RADIATION detectors in Britain recorded a fourfold
increase in uranium 
levels in the atmosphere after the "shock and awe"
bombing campaign 
against 
Iraq, according to a
report.

Environmental scientists who uncovered the figures through
freedom of 
information laws say it is evidence that depleted uranium
from the 
shells 
was carried by wind currents to
Britain.


Government officials, however, say the sharp rise in
uranium detected 
by 
radiation monitors in Berkshire was a
coincidence and probably came 
from 
local sources.

The results
from testing stations at the Atomic Weapons Establishment 
(AWE) 
in
Aldermaston and four other stations within a 10-mile radius were

obtained 
by Chris Busby, of Liverpool University's department of
human anatomy 
and 
cell biology.

Each detector recorded a
significant rise in uranium levels during the 
Gulf 
war bombing
campaign in March 2003. The reading from a park in Reading 
was 
high
enough for the Environment Agency to be alerted.

Busby, who has
advised the government on radiation and is a founder of 
Green 
Audit,
the environmental consultancy, believes "uranium aerosols" from 
Iraq

were widely dispersed in the atmosphere and blown across
Europe.

"This research shows that rather than remaining near the
target as 
claimed 
by the military, depleted uranium weapons
contaminate both locals and 
whole 
populations hundreds to thousands
of miles away," he said.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) countered that
it was "unfeasible" 
depleted 
uranium could have travelled so far.
Radiation experts also said that 
other 
environmental sources were
more likely to blame.

The "shock and awe" campaign was one of the
most devastating assaults 
in 
modern warfare. In the first 24-hour
period more than 1,500 bombs and 
missiles were dropped on
Baghdad.

During the conflict A10 "tankbuster" planes - which use
munitions 
containing 
depleted uranium - fired 300,000 rounds. The
substance - dubbed a 
"silver 
bullet" because of its ability to
pierce heavy tank armour - is 
controversial because of its potential
effect on human health. Critics 
say 
it is chemically toxic and can
cause cancer, and Iraqi doctors reported 
a
marked rise in cancer
cases after it was used in the first Gulf 
conflict.

The American
and British governments say depleted uranium is relatively 
harmless,
however. The Royal Society, the UK's academy of science, has 
also

said the risk from depleted uranium is "very low" for soldiers and

people in 
a conflict zone.

Busby's report shows that within
nine days of the start of the Iraq war 
on 
March 19, 2003, higher
levels of uranium were picked up on five sites 
in 
Berkshire. On two
occasions, levels exceeded the threshold at which the 
Environment Agency
must be informed, though within safety limits. The 
report 
says
weather conditions over the war period showed a consistent flow of 
air

from Iraq northwards.

Brian Spratt, who chaired the Royal
Society's report, cast doubt on 
depleted 
uranium as a source but
said it could have come from natural uranium in 
the 
massive amounts
of soil kicked up by shock and awe.

Other experts said local
environmental sources, such as a power 
station, 
were more likely at
fault. The Environment Agency said detectors at 
other 
sites did not
record a similar increase, which suggested a local 
source.

A MoD
spokesman said the uranium was of a "natural origin" and there 
was no

evidence that depleted uranium had reached Britain from
Iraq.


Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd.