Natural News | May 25, 2012

By PF Louis

It’s not just Fukushima, though that may be enough. The northern hemisphere especially had been inundated with radioactive fallout by atmospheric nuclear weapons testing from 1950 to 1963. The Nevada testing area alone produced 1200 nuclear explosions that emitted radioactive particles across the USA.

The Chernobyl incident in 1986 affected hundreds of thousands throughout Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia. The boom in nuclear reactor power plants had already started and was constantly increasing, along with considerable radiation leaking.

A 1996 international court interpretation of international treaties opened the door for widespread use of depleted uranium (DU) that had been prohibited for use as ammunition projectiles that could pierce armor. Tons of DU ammunition has been used in Bosnia and the Mideast since, leaving a radioactive mess that will last for life times.

Depleted uranium is a deceptive term. It is basically what’s left after enriched uranium is used for reactors. But DU cannot be used in reactors anymore. DU is still highly radioactive, so using it for ammunition creates a lucrative industry instead of an expensive toxic waste disposal issue.