Pentagon pushes back on Russian claims that depleted uranium causes cancer
Barnini Chakraborty
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The Pentagon on Thursday pushed back on Russian claims that the use of depleted uranium rounds caused cancer, pointing to research from two health organizations and the International Atomic Energy Agency that found exposure was not directly linked to a spike in leukemia, other cancers, or diseases.
“The CDC has stated that there is no evidence that the depleted uranium rounds cause cancer,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said Thursday afternoon during a briefing with reporters.
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She added: “The World Health Organization reports that there has been no increase of leukemia or other cancers that have been established following any exposure to uranium or DU [depleted uranium] and even the IAEA has stated unequivocally that there is no proven link between [depleted uranium] exposure and increases in cancers or significant health or environmental impacts.”
Singh’s comments follow criticism from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov that NATO’s heavy use of such ammunition in bombing Yugoslavia in 1999 had caused a jump in cancer cases and other diseases.
His comments came on the heels of a Pentagon announcement on Wednesday that the United States would include depleted uranium anti-tank rounds to be used in Abrams tanks in its newest $1 billion aid package to Ukraine.
The new aid package also includes tactical air navigation systems and additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.
“This is not just an escalatory step, but it is a reflection of Washington’s outrageous disregard for the environmental consequences of using this kind of ammunition in a combat zone. This is, in fact, a criminal act, I cannot give any other assessment,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to state news agency TASS.
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The Russian Embassy in Washington also weighed in, saying the decision to send the controversial armor-piercing munitions to Kyiv was “an indicator of inhumanity,” adding that the United States was “deluding itself by refusing to accept the failure of the Ukrainian military’s so-called counteroffensive.”
Depleted uranium is the waste product of the process to create enriched uranium, which is used in nuclear fuel and weapons. Depleted uranium is denser than lead, which makes it so effective as a projectile that it can slice through armor, RAND nuclear expert Edward Geist told the Associated Press, adding, “It heats it up so much that it catches on fire.”