Radioactive US Tanks from Iraq Sit in Open in Kansas

[AGENDA21]

Across the plains of Kansas, destroyed, radioactive Abrams tanks, perched on railroad flatcars, rolled towards an uncertain future. Only one thing was certain. They would be radioactive forever. This would be their everlasting death mask. The Pentagon deceptively calls it "depleted uranium."

The Abrams tanks are constructed with a layer of radioactive uranium metal plates. The big tanks fire a giant uranium dart at 2,100 mph, much faster than an F-16 fighter aircraft, mach III to airplane pilots and very, very fast to the rest of us.

American taxpayers paid to ship the tanks to Iraq and to return them for disposal or re-building in the United States. The tanks are 12 feet wide and weigh a stout 70 tons, or 140,000 pounds.

The enduring vigorous stupidity of the U.S. military pretends that radiation is one of those things that if you can't see it, it can't hurt you. They are thoroughly delusional, of course. A National Academy of Sciences report released June 30, 2005, finds that there is no safe level of radiation. Any radiation is bad.


http://www.sfbayview.com/110905/radioactivetank110905.shtml

[Dunvegan]

1. If there's no such thing as evolution, then it follows...

...that there's no such thing as "devolution" or breakdown of uranium over its half-life. :sarcasm:

[ClintonTyree]

3. Which makes Kansas the perfect place to store them.....

:sarcasm: They'll believe wholeheartedly in some invisible sky being that controls every aspect of their life, right down to which NCAA teams go to the final four or which NASCAR driver prayed hardest this week, but they'll ignore the very real danger of "depleted" uranium because they can't see it and the Army tells them it's safe. Kansas seems to have been "left behind" in the information age.

[MadHound]

2. OK, this is full of some half truths and a bit of hysteria

First off, the layer of "radioactive" plates that these tanks carry is actually depleted uranium. Not much radioactive activity can be gotten off of these. I would be more worried about the dust that is on them than the sheer fact that they are carrying DU onboard.

And again, these are large blocks of DU, not very dangerous in and of themselves. No, I wouldn't want the kiddies playing around them, but I wouldn't panic when want went by on the railroad.

And sorry, but this blanket statement that "finds that there is no safe level of radiation. Any radiation is bad." is ludicrous on the face of it. We're all exposed to various amounts of radiation every day, from the sun, microwaves to cell phones, radio waves, EM fields from power lines, etc. etc. This is blanket sensasionalism at it's worst. If they're going to go into the dangers of DU, they have plenty of ammo without having to resort to such overblown statements.

And frankly, while the author may whine and moan about how these tanks are transported, it is within the law. DU is a weak emitter, weak enough that it doesn't have to have the vehicle, in this case the train, placarded. We're talking one tenth of a milicurrie or less at three feet distance.

Now what they do with this stuff is the $64,000 question. Of course it is the same question that plagues all radioactive waste. There is no good solution to this problem, and hence we shouldn't be adding to it. In fact due to the danger that DU poses when it is rendered into dust is a slow motion genocide that we've let loose in Iraq, and we should put a halt to it. However putting out hysterical pieces on DU tanks is not helping the cause. Because once this article is debunked and ridiculed for the hysterical overreaction it is, most of the public will regard such articles in the same dismissive way in the future, no matter if they are solid scientific articles or not.

This article does a disservice to the cause of stopping DU. It is overblown and hysterical, and there plenty of horrible issues related to the use of DU that they shouldn't have to stoop to overblown fearmongering on this issue.

[Sinistrous]

4. Thank you for your eloquent and rational response to this message.

This is not the first time this overwrought piece has shown up on these forums.

Sinistrous

[Dunvegan]

5. I agee. However, I hope that these scrapped DU tanks are not rendered...

...into dust without report or oversight.

I think that the ultimate form of disposal should be made a matter of public knowledge.

Great post, BTW.

[donco6]

6. I agree. DU is a problem with it's DUST, breathable dust.

Like asbestos. Once in the lungs, it stays put and bombards your innards with low level radiation over a long time. That's bad. A tank going by on a track - not so much. We should focus on the damage that's being done to Iraqi children as they play in streets covered with this stuff. It's not going to help our world standing (already in the toilet), when lymphoma and brain cancer cases start exceeding established rates. Not to mention that we'd be responsible for even more death, death, death.