MSPs from the Scottish Nationalist, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties are calling on Scottish ministers to try and stop DU from being used by the UK government in future conflicts. They also want an end to the testing of DU shells at the Dundrennan military firing range near Kirkcudbright.

The Scottish government has strongly opposed the test firing of DU shells on Scottish soil. But under the terms of the devolution settlement, it has no powers to prevent it.

DU is a radioactive and chemically toxic heavy metal produced as waste by the nuclear industry. It has been widely used by UK and US military forces to harden armour-piercing shells fired in the Gulf, Balkans and Iraq wars.

When DU weapons burn, they release a hazardous dust which can contaminate wide areas. Civilians and soldiers exposed to the contamination claim to have suffered from cancers, birth defects and other illnesses as a result.

The former US army military police investigator, Herbert Reed, says that he has suffered from breathing problems, headaches, nerve damage and joint pain since he was contaminated by DU while serving in Iraq during 2003. “Once it enters your body there is no known way of getting it out,” he told the Sunday Herald.

“The minute particles are insoluble and just travel around latching onto various organs and bones,” he said. “I believe that DU should be banned until further investigation is conducted on its effects on humans and the environment.”

The test-firing of more than 6,000 DU shells since 1982 has also contaminated the ground at Dundrennan in Dumfriesshire. Soil samples taken in 2006 showed the highest contamination for ten years, and breached agreed safety limits.

Demands for curbs on DU weapons have been escalating internationally. The European Parliament voted for a moratorium by an 94% majority last year and 141 countries supported a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly requesting a fresh look at the health and environmental impact of DU.

Last week the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) expressed a willingness to look again at the use of DU weapons after the UN General Assembly meets in 2010. And the 23-nation Latin American parliament, the Parlatino, began considering a motion to ban DU weapons.

Against this background, the Glasgow Green MSP, Patrick Harvie, has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament strongly urging the Scottish government “to offer its moral and, where appropriate, practical support for a global ban on the use of depleted uranium weapons.”

Patrick Harvie MSP

The motion has been already been backed by six SNP MSPs, two Liberal Democrats and the former Labour Minister, Malcolm Chisholm. “The UK government should immediately commit never to use or test these shells again,” said Harvie.

“The serious long-term effects of depleted uranium on health and the environment have long been well understood, and they bring a price neither Iraq nor Dumfriesshire should have to pay.”

Harvie accepted that the Scottish government did not have the power to block the Ministry of Defence (MoD) from testing DU shells at Dundrennan. But he added: “They must put all the pressure they can on the MoD to do the right thing.”

The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons called on MSPs from all parties to back Harvie’s motion. “This gives Scotland an opportunity to tell Westminster that, along with the overwhelming majority of the European Union's population, it rejects the use of inhumane and indiscriminate weapons,” said the coalition’s coordinator, Doug Weir.

“It is an unpleasant irony that UK forces have fired more depleted uranium rounds in Scotland than they have in Iraq, yet Scotland appears powerless to be able to stop the use of Dumfriesshire as a toxic dumping ground.”

The Scottish environment minister, Roseanna Cunningham, reiterated the government’s strong opposition to the testing of DU shells in Scotland. “We presently have no powers to stop test firing on our soil by the MoD but we have repeatedly made it clear to Whitehall that we are against this practice,” she said.

Testing on Dundrennan Range

“The Scottish government wrote in strong terms to the MoD about that previous test firing and the lack of notification we received. We have since received assurances from them that there are no more test firings planned and we believe there should not be any more such testing on Scottish soil.”

The MoD argued that there was no satisfactory alternative to DU for an armour-piercing weapon. “Therefore DU anti-armour munitions will remain part of our arsenal for the foreseeable future because we have a duty to provide our troops with the best available equipment with which to protect them and succeed in conflict,” said an MoD spokesman.

See also

• 

  International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons

  NATO prepared to take a fresh look at depleted uranium weapons

  NATO will follow the World Health Organisation’s lead on health risks but claims no responsibility for choice of weapons deployed by its members.
  

  ICBUW
• 

  International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons

  Parlatino considers depleted uranium weapon ban

  The Latin American Parliament is considering a resolution on uranium weapons after Costa Rican parliamentarian Alexander Mora Mora introduced his draft law proposal at a meeting in Buenos Aires.

  30 March 2009 - ICBUW
• 

  International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons

  Report: Human Cost of Uranium Weapons Exhibition and Seminar, Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh.

  On the 4th and 5th of February, the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium (CADU) and ICBUW held an exhibition and seminar in the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The events were sponsored by two MSPs Patrick Harvie (Greens) and Alasdair Morgan (Scottish Nationalist Party) and funded by the Andrew Wainwright Reform Trust.
  

  12 February 2009 - ICBUW