Did 2003 Iraq Bombings Spread Uranium Radiation Across Europe?

Posted on February 22, 2006

The Guardian reports that radiation detectors in the UK recorded a significant increase in uranium levels shortly after the "shock and awe" bombing campaign in Iraq in March, 2003.

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 Guardian article cites the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as saying this radiation spread is "unfeasible" and also cites radiation experts who say environmental sources are the more likely reason for the spike. Even if the MoD and the radiation experts are right about radiation not spreading to the UK it does make you wonder just how much radiation was released in Iraq and how much danger it poses to Iraqis and to the coalition troops still fighting in that country.

MILITARY