Initiative für eine menschliche Politik!
 

Meldungsrubriken

links    literatur    aktionen    Termine    Texte    redaktion    hinweise

   danke: www.popo.at

Uranmunition - Tagebuch einer Recherche

Sah gestern (11.03.2003) auf arte [http://www.arte-tv.com/] den Themenabend "Amerikas Kreuzzug gegen Saddam", wo auch die Verwendung von Uranmunition zur Sprache kam. Da das ein Lehrbeispiel zu sein scheint, wie Machtmissbrauch im Verein mit Verantwortungslosigkeit respektive Gedankenlosigkeit unendliches (es war jeweils von mehreren Millionen Jahren die Rede) Leid erzeugt, beschloss ich der Sache nachzugehen und nachzuforschen, wie diese Entscheidung - Uranmunition zu entwickeln und einzusetzen - zustandekam und vor allem, wer diese Entscheidung getroffen hat.

Ich beginne meine Recherche also - klar - im Internet. http://www.google.at liefert zum Stichwort "Uranmunition" ungefähr 3880 Treffer.

An erster Stelle steht http://www.uranmunition.de/ offenbar eine Unterseite von http://www.bundeswehrabschaffen.de/ - der Kampagne für eine Bundesrepublik ohne Armee, die vom Jugendclub Courage e.V. getragen wird, der die Forderung "Nie wieder Krieg" konkret auf das Militär bezieht.

Unter http://www.uranmunition.de/uranbroschuere.htm findet sich schließlich eine Broschüre, in der erläutert wird, was Uran 238 ist, welche Wirkung es als Munition entfaltet (großes spezifisches Gewicht bedeutet große Durchschlagskraft; panzerbrechende Wirkung) und welcher Art die Gesundheit geschädigt wird (Schwermetallvergiftung und Strahlenschäden). Weiters findet sich ein Vortrag von Prof. Dr. Dr. med. habil Siegwart Horst Günther vor allem über die erhöhte Kindersterblichkeit im Irak.
[http://www.uranmunition.de/uranbroschuere.htm#_ftnref10]
Er meint dort weiter: "Während des Zweiten Weltkrieges war im Oktober 1943 durch Deutschland eine großflächige Radioaktivität in die Kriegführung eingeplant. Auf diese Zeit geht wohl auch die Entwicklung "besonderer Geschosse" zurück. Die US-Spionage hatte hiervon allerdings Kenntnis erhalten."

Dann fand ich das auf
http://www.atk.com/defense/descriptions/products/munitioncards/pgu-14.htm

(ATK ist ein US-Konzern)

PGU-14/B Armor Piercing Incendiary

Team: 30mm GAU-8
Height (max): 11.416 in.
Weight: 1.53 lb
Number Produced: 15M
Birth Date: 1976
Muzzle Velocity (nominal): 3325 fps
Penetrator Weight: 0.6 lb
Cartridge Case: Aluminum
Dispersion (typical): 0.6 x 0.6 mr

The PGU-14 API has the kinetic energy needed to defeat armor. Its projectile possesses a high-density penetrator and demonstrates the follow-through fragmentation and pyrophoric effects for maximum effectiveness. Alternative penetrator materials capable of similar high performance are also available.

Dann auf http://www.atk.com/about/environ.htm - ATK is committed to producing products and services for its customers in an environmentally responsible manner. We believe that forward-looking, proper, and cost-effective management of air, land, and water resources is key to our long-term success. We will provide a safe and healthful workplace for our employees and for the communities where we live and operate.

Uran oder Wolfram?

"Die Wirkung von Penetratoren aus Wolframschwermetall, deren Produktionsverfahren und Herstellung wesentliches teurer ist als die von uranhaltigen Geschossen, ist gleich. Sogar das spezifische Gewicht des Schwermetalls Wolfram ist mit 19,27 gr. pro Kubikzentimeter gegenüber Uran mit nur 19,1 gr. geringfügig besser. Dennoch behaupten englische und amerikanische Munitionshersteller, dass Penetratoren aus abgereichertem Uran eine 20% höhere Durchschlagleistung aufweisen als andere Penetratoren die aus Wolframschwermetall bestehen. Darüber hinaus sollen die Sekundärwirkungen im Ziel stärker als bei Wolframlösungen sein, was nach Ansicht der Militärs zu einer höheren Ersttreffervernichtungswahrscheinlichkeit bei angegriffenen Zielen führt. Diese Behauptung ist stark umstritten."
[http://www.wehrtechnik.net/wehrtechnik/uran_munition.html]

Kein Wunder: "The Department of Energy possesses over 500,000 tons of DU that has been accumulating since the Manhattan Project. Billions of dollars have been spent by the U.S. government to find a final dumpsite for the radioactive waste, but other nations and communities in Maine and New Mexico have resisted the efforts to dump the DU waste in their area. The use of this weaponry in the Persian Gulf, then, served two purposes. It eliminated enemy troops and weapons and disposed of tens or even thousands of tons of the radioactive DU on the Persian Gulf battlefields."
[http://www.projectcensored.org/stories/c1997.htm#9]

Nicht nur Munition...

"Ironically, while DU armor proved effective in shielding tank crews from impacting rounds, the crews were repeatedly irradiated by their own protection. According to the Military Toxins Project, "the amount of radiation a tank driver receives to his head alone will exceed the [Nuclear Regulatory Commission's] annual standard for public whole-body exposure to man-made sources of radiation. Unfortunately U.S. tank crews were not monitored for radiation exposure during the Persian Gulf War.""
[http://www.gulfwarvets.com/du6.htm]

Wer hatte zu entscheiden?

"Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf of the U.S. high command during the Gulf War, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Gen. Colin Powell and former Defense Secretary Richard Cheney, former President George Bush and President Bill Clinton - none of them has shown much interest in the plight of Gulf War veterans suffering from an array of debilitating illnesses."
[http://www.gulfwarvets.com/du3.htm]

Cui bono?

"The Pentagon has been selling excess and obsolete stocks of brass covered shells that include 50-caliber armor-piercing rounds for $1 a ton to Talon Manufacturing Company. Last year Talon sold more that 100,000 armor-piercing 50 caliber rounds on the civilian market. The buyers ranged from the militaries of Brazil and Colombia to civilian weapons dealers in the U.S.. Gun dealers boast that the projectile will go through six inches of steel up to a 45-degree angle at 1,000 yards. The 50-caliber guns are considered accurate at 2,000 yards and can hit targets 4 miles away with some effectiveness. Talon even sold 35,000 rounds of the refurbished 50-caliber armor-piercing projectiles back to the U.S. military. The U.S. military arsenal includes a 50-caliber DU armor-piercing projectile.(Gaines, W., "Amor-Piercing Ammo Being Sold as Surplus," Chicago Tribune, June 6 1999.)"
[http://users.westnet.gr/~cgian/du-weapon.htm]

"Six firms are known to currently manufacture or sell large caliber DU tank rounds:

• BAE Systems, Royal Ordnance Defence (UK) ˆ 105mm, 120mm;(T. Gander and C. Cutshaw, Eds., Jane‚s Ammunition Handbook, 9 th Edition, 2000-2001 (Surrey: Jane‚s Information Group Limited, 2000) 189, 230.)
• Giat Industries (France) ˆ 120mm;(226-227)
• General Export for Defense (CIS) ˆ 125mm; (231-232 and International Exhibition of Weapons and Military Technology, „125mm 3BEK17 Tank Ammunition with 36K216 Heat Projectile of Enhanced Killing Power,‰ General Export for Defense, Moscow (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 1993). The 3BM32 round containing a 7.1 kg DU penetrator is compatible for use by T-64, T-72, T-80, T-84 and T-90 main battle tanks. C. Foss, Ed., Jane‚s Armour and Artillery, 2000-2001, 21 st Edition (Surrey: Jane‚s Information Group Limited, 2000) 76.)
• Alliant Techsystems (USA) ˆ 120mm; („ATK Defense ˆ Ammunition,‰ http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/ammunition/alliant_ammunition/index.html)
• Primex Technologies [formerly Olin Ordnance Co.] (USA) ˆ 105mm, 120mm;(Primex Technologies, 1999 Annual Report (St. Petersburg, Florida, 1999)) and
• Pakistani National Development Complex (Pakistan) ˆ 105mm, 125mm.(„Pakistan joins DU producer nations,‰ Jane‚s Land Forces (9 May 2001) http://www.janes.com/defence/land_forces/news/idr/idr010509_1_n.shtml)

General Export for Defense has also marketed a shaped charge high explosive tank round encased in a DU liner for „enhanced killing power.‰(International Exhibition of Weapons and Military Technology, „125mm 3BEK17 Tank Ammunition with 36K216 Heat Projectile of Enhanced Killing Power,‰ General Export for Defense, Moscow (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 1993).

BAE Systems has experimented with the use of shaped charge tank rounds encased in DU. (U.K. Ministry of Defence, „Depleted Uranium ˆ the facts,‰ (London, 2001) http://www.mod.uk.)

Depleted uranium has also been developed for use in small-caliber Gatling and machine guns (20mm, 25mm, 30mm) mounted on ships, fighting vehicles, and aircraft. In the United States, Alliant Techsystems and Primex Technologies manufacture these rounds."
http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/pdf/dumyths.pdf

vgl. dazu auch http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/dfac.html#AMMFAB

"The Olin Corporation is the sole maker in the U.S. of DU antitank rounds, and its foundation funds "research" which purports to show that DU has no harmful health effects." http://www.cursor.org/stories/uranium.htm
http://www.mediatransparency.org/funders/john_m_olin_foundation.htm

"Several contractors are licensed to load, to assemble and pack and to fabricate and test DU ammunition at Army or non-government sites. Alliant Tech Systems, Inc., and Olin Ordnance test DU munitions at the Energetic Material Research and Technology Center in Socorro, N.M. (formerly the Terminal Effects Research and Analysis (TERA) Facility). Alliant Tech Systems conducted open air testing of DU munitions for the Army at the Naval Weapons Center (NWC) in China Lake, Calif., from 1979 to 1989. The Army has completed remediation at NWC that meets NRC and California criteria. Alliant Tech Systems is also authorized to fabricate DU munitions at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Minnesota (NRC, 1992a). The General Electric Company is licensed to test DU munitions at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Burlington, Vt. The Army has stopped using the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant and the Ethan Allen Firing Range for DU operations; the contractors are decommissioning these sites according to the terms of their contracts."
http://www.aepi.army.mil/Library/AEPI%20Publications/DU/chapter3.html

"The M919 25 mm DU round is produced exclusively by Olin Ordnance in Marion, Il.; the rounds were originally produced by Aerojet Manufacturing of Chino, Calif., while the M774, M833 and M900 (105 mm) penetrators and the M829, M829A1 and M829A2 (120 mm) penetrators have been made by both AOT and NMI (Hickman, 1993) [...] The penetrators are produced under subcontract to a government prime ammunition production contractor (usually Alliant Tech Systems of Edina, Minn., or Olin Ordnance of St. Petersburg, Fla.). The prime contractor then contracts for the metal parts manufacturing and projectile assembly with Olin Ordnance of Red Lion, Pa.; Chamberlain Manufacturing of Waterloo, Iowa; or National Manufacturing Corporation of St. Louis, Mo. Two government owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) plants load, assemble and pack (LAP) the complete tank rounds: the Milan Army Ammunition Plant (MAAP) of Milan, Tenn., operated by Martin Marietta Ordnance Systems, Inc. and the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAP) of Middletown, Iowa, operated by Mason & Hanger - Silas Mason Company, Inc. (Van Dorn, 1993; Vumbaco, 1993a; Crumpler, 1993; Hickman, 1993). Aerojet performs LAP for the 25 mm DU rounds. Each facility operates under its own license."
http://www.aepi.army.mil/Library/AEPI%20Publications/DU/chapter3.html

Weiteres Material:

Uranmunition - Chronologie

Uranmunition - Links

Uranmunition - Literatur

Uranmunition - Personenregister

Uranmunition - Ortsregister

Uranmunition - Sachregister

Uranmunition - Reaktionen

Druckfreundliche Darstellung