The US is sending controversial depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine. Here's what we know
The US will soon send armour-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium to aid Ukraine's war effort.
The news, revealed by Reuters, marks the first time the US has sent the controversial rounds to Ukraine.
But what sets the ammunition apart and how did they become so contentious?
What are armour-piercing uranium munitions?
The munitions use depleted uranium (DU) which is by-product from when uranium is enriched for use in nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons.
The DU is still radioactive but has a much lower level of the isotopes U-235 and U-234 than natural uranium ore.
The metal is used in weapons because it is so dense and can self-ignite at high temperatures and pressures.
At this temperature, it becomes sharper — a phenomenon call "adiabatic shearing" — and penetrates armour plating like that found on military tanks, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Armour made of DU is also more resistant to penetration from traditional anti-armour ammunitions.
Is the depleted uranium dangerous?
It depends.
While depleted uranium is considerably less radioactive than its naturally occurring counterpart, particles can linger for some time.
Air, soil, water and vegetation can potentially be contaminated and affected by DU residues, the UN environment programme says.
Lobby International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons says DU "creates a long-term health threat for civilians and the military alike".
However, IAEA says there is no evidence DU is a "definite cancer risk" despite its potential to be carcinogenic.
Further studies, cited by Reuters, claim use in former Yugoslavia, Kuwait, Iraq and Lebanon "indicated that the existence of depleted uranium residues dispersed in the environment does not pose a radiological hazard to the population of the affected regions."
In general, exposure to uranium in high concentrations can cause kidney damage, and possibly renal failure, IAEA says.
Why is the US sending them?
The Biden government looks to follow in the steps of the UK providing the munition to Ukraine.
The rounds, are part of a new military aid package set to be unveiled in the next week.
The munitions can be fired from US Abrams tanks that Reuters claims, according to a person familiar with the matter, are expected be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks.
One of the officials said that the coming aid package will be worth between $240 million and $375 million ($371-$580 million).
The value and contents of the package were still being finalised, the officials said.
The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Loading...It follows an earlier decision by the Biden administration to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite concerns over the dangers such weapons pose to civilians.
The US security assistance to Ukraine since the war began in February 2022 has been more than $43 billion ($66 billion AUD).
Australia has spent a total of $790 million supporting Ukraine, including $610 million in military assistance, as of June this year.
Where else have the rounds been used?
As mentioned earlier, the Russia-Ukraine war is not the first time these weapons have seen the military front line.
The US used depleted uranium munitions in massive quantities in the 1990 and 2003 during the Gulf Wars and NATO bombing of former Yugoslavia in 1999.
They have been seen in conflict in Serbia and Kosovo.
The US also confirmed it had use DU munitions in the 2015 raids on Islamic-state controlled Syria, despite vowing not to.
The rounds were originally developed by the US during the Cold War to destroy Soviet tanks, according to PBS.