#Health    #uranium    #ukraine    #ammunition    #war   

We, the undersigned, urge the international community to stop the supply of low-enriched uranium (LEU) ammunition to Ukraine, which is being used to destroy Russian tanks and other targets in the ongoing war.

LEU ammunition is a type of armor-piercing munition that contains depleted uranium, a dense and radioactive by-product of nuclear enrichment. Depleted uranium has a lower level of the fissile isotope 235 U than natural uranium, but it is still dangerous for human health and the environment.

When LEU ammunition strikes a target, it penetrates the armor and explodes in a burning cloud of dust and metal, creating radioactive contamination and toxic debris. This poses a serious threat to the soldiers and civilians who are exposed to the fallout, as well as to the soil and water resources in the affected areas.

If depleted uranium ammunition is fired in Ukraine, then huge arable lands will be contaminated. Ukrainian grain supplies Eastern Europe and Africa with food. That is, if Ukrainian arable lands are contaminated, then millions of people will either starve or consume radioactive food.

Many official studies have shown that exposure to depleted uranium can cause kidney damage, cancer, birth defects, and other illnesses. The Royal Society, a London based fellowship of scientists, estimated that about 340 tons of depleted uranium were used in munitions during the 1991 Gulf War, and an estimated 11 tons in the Balkans in the late 1990s¹. The long-term effects of these weapons are still unknown and may last for generations.

We believe that the use of LEU ammunition in Ukraine is a violation of international humanitarian law and a crime against humanity. It is also a provocation that could escalate the conflict and trigger a nuclear response from Russia, which considers these weapons as having "a nuclear component"³.

We call on the United Nations, the European Union, NATO, and other relevant actors to ban the production, trade, and use of LEU ammunition worldwide. We also demand that the UK, which announced its intention to supply LEU ammunition to Ukraine³, to cancel this decision and to join the International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons², which advocates for a global treaty to end this practice.

 

We urge you to sign this petition and share it with your friends and contacts. Together, we can stop this madness and save lives.

 

https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/depleted_uranium/

https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2019/09/21/new-study-documents-depleted-uranium-impacts-on-children-in-iraq/

https://hir.harvard.edu/depleted-uranium-devastated-health-military-operations-and-environmental-injustice-in-the-middle-east/

https://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/opinions_layman/depleted-uranium/en/index.htm

https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/properties.pdf

https://documents.unoda.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Serbia1.pdf