UK to send depleted uranium shells to Ukraine: What are these munitions that has Vladimir Putin seeing red?

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which has entered Day 392, has seen different types of weapons and strategies being deployed. The West, in its efforts to help, has provided Ukraine with several munitions — ranging from the Patriot missile to different types of tanks and other armaments. On Monday, Britain announced its plans to send Challenger 2 tanks along with ammunition, including armour piercing rounds. However, this decision has irked Russia, with Vladimir Putin telling reporters — after talks at the Kremlin with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping — that Moscow would be “forced to react” and accused the West of deploying weapons with a “nuclear component”. The tank shells in question are made with depleted uranium. Britain’s Minister of State for Defence Annabel Goldie on Monday confirmed that the UK would supply “armour piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium” to Ukraine with its gift of 14 Challenger 2 tanks because they are deemed “highly effective in defeating modern tanks and armoured vehicles”. Responding to this statement made by the British minister, Putin was quoted as saying, “If all this happens, Russian will have to respond accordingly, given that the West collectively is already beginning to use weapons with a nuclear component.” But what exactly is depleted uranium and how is it used in weapons? How dangerous is the use of such ammunition? We take a closer look. What is depleted uranium? Depleted uranium is a by-product of the nuclear enrichment process used to make nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons. It is 40 per cent less radioactive than natural uranium, but is a very heavy substance — 1.7 times denser than lead. Depleted uranium has a variety of applications because of its high density and its pyrophoric properties. Civilian uses for depleted uranium include counterweights in aircraft, forklifts and even sailboat keels. It is also used in medical radiotherapy as a radiation shield and until 1982 as dental porcelain crowns. Militarily, depleted uranium is used in armour plates in heavy tanks and in armour-piercing ammunition. Defence experts state that it is used to harden rounds so that they can penetrate armour and steel. They say that when a weapon made with a depleted uranium tip or core strikes a solid object, like the side of a tank, it goes straight through it and then erupts in a burning cloud of vapour. **Also read: Russia ‘fires’ white phosphorous bombs in Ukraine: What are these deadly munitions that ‘rain down hell’?** According to a report published by Scientific American, what makes depleted uranium deadly is that uranium shells burn away at the edges. This “self-sharpening” helps them bore into armour. Has depleted uranium munitions been used before? Yes. Depleted uranium munitions have been used by the United States and United Kingdom in the Iraq and Gulf wars in 1991 and 2003. It was also used during NATO’s 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia. The use of the munitions was acknowledged in a 2000 report, and the US-led bloc had used some 10 metric tonnes of the material in Yugoslavia. The same report added that NATO had used 300 metric tonnes in Iraq. [caption id=“attachment_12332042” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Yugoslav Army soldiers measure radioactivity levels on the ground near southern Serbian town of Presevo in 2001. NATO has confirmed that it used depleted uranium during the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia. File image/Reuters[/caption] Is it dangerous? According to experts, the vapour that emerges on impact settles as dust, which is poisonous and also weakly radioactive. It is a particular health risk around impact sites, where dust can get into people’s lungs and vital organs. The United Nations Environment Program has described it as a “chemically and radiologically toxic heavy metal”. In a 2022 report, the UN body had said, ““Depleted uranium and toxic substances in common explosives can cause skin irritation, kidney failure and increase the risks of cancer.” “The chemical toxicity of depleted uranium is considered a more significant issue than the possible impacts of its radioactivity,” it added. According to some studies, cancer rates and birth defect rates went up exponentially after the US used depleted uranium shells in Iraq. A team of scientists in a study 10 years ago found “high levels of uranium contamination in soil samples at three sites in the province of Nineveh” and those high levels were being directly blamed for “dramatically increasing rates of childhood cancers and birth defects at local hospitals”. [caption id=“attachment_12332112” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Thousands of anti-war demonstrators form a message against war and the use of depleted uranium (DU) shells during a protest against a possible US-led war on Iraq. File image/Reuters[/caption] The Royal Society Working Group in their 2001 and 2002 reviews said that the main risk from inhalation of depleted uranium dust was increased risk of lung cancer: risks of other cancers, such as leukaemia, were far lower. Some US veterans, who fought the Iraq War, blame their medical conditions on the use of depleted uranium. One of the veterans, in a Tuscon.com report, said that he suffered from bleeding gums, and blood in his urine. He also suffers from rashes that leave him itching uncontrollably and joints that ache for days. He blames his medical afflictions on the use of depleted uranium. According to the AC-Laboratorium Spiez, an independent laboratory that tests soil samples for the United Nations and other organisations, only about 17 per cent of the depleted uranium particles found after such an explosion are easily soluble, and might thus find their way into foods. **Also read: What are environmental crimes and can Ukraine punish Russia for them?** Will Ukraine see a use of these arms? On Monday, Britain said that it would be sending these munitions along with the Challenger 2 tanks. The matter has quickly become a huge debate between Russia and the UK, with the latter accusing the Kremlin of “deliberately trying to disinform”. Putin on Tuesday said that Moscow would “respond accordingly” if Britain gives Ukraine the depleted uranium shells. Sergei Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, said there were now fewer and fewer steps left before a potential “nuclear collision” between Russia and the West. [caption id=“attachment_12332132” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Two-year-old Mohammed Hassan Atia, an Iraqi boy suffering from cancer, cries as his father holds him in a children hospital in Basrah in 2001. Baghdad has insisted for years that there is a link between depleted uranium and the increase in the number of Iraqis suffering from leukemia and other kinds of cancer. File image/Reuters[/caption] However, Britain pushed away Russia’s claims on the weapons having a ‘nuclear component’ with the Ministry of Defence saying, Depleted uranium is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons. “The British Army has used depleted uranium in its armour piercing shells for decades,” the statement added.“Russia knows this, but is deliberately trying to disinform. Independent research by scientists from groups such as the Royal Society has assessed that any impact to personal health and the environment from the use of depleted uranium munitions is likely to be low.” Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical weapons expert and former British Army officer, told CBS News that Putin’s comments accusing the West of supplying Ukraine with “weapons with a nuclear component” were “absolutely bonkers” and “completely wrong,” noting that depleted uranium “cannot be used as a nuclear fuel or turned into a nuclear weapon”.

However, Britain’s decision to send these munitions has also been criticised by anti-nuclear organisation CND. Its general secretary, Kate Hudson, said that it “will only increase the long-term suffering of the civilians caught up in this conflict”. The CND leader also said, “CND has repeatedly called for the UK government to place an immediate moratorium on the use of depleted uranium weapons and to fund long-term studies into their health and environmental impacts.” With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.