DU Shells as an Inhuman Weapon: Biopolitics over War and Radiation Exposure

Abstract

“Biopolitics,” according to Foucault, concerns the natural environment and bodies, both of which are “ungovernable.” Problems with radiation risk are typically problems of governability; radiation can contaminate the whole environment and eventually damage genes and destroy the reproductive capacity of biological bodies. Because radiation can be neither seen nor sensed, problems relating to the so-called “radiation exposure safety level” become political problems concerning the scientific construction of invisible reality and the definition of its meanings for human health. We shed light on the concrete ways in which biopolitics operates in the nuclear age, running from Hiroshima to Chernobyl to Fukushima, with an eye to justice as security for biological bodies. Emphasis is placed on the controversies over so-called depleted uranium (DU) shells.

DU is a radioactive waste generated from the production of enriched uranium, which is necessary for nuclear weapons and energy. In the 1950s, the United States began research on how to dispose DU and developed antitank rounds with DU in their penetrators. DUʼs rare hardness and density are considered “ideal” for destroying tanks. Furthermore, because it is nuclear waste, it is available to the munitions industry at virtually no charge. DU weapons are said to be “revolutionary,” rendering traditional tanks virtually useless. Troublingly, however, DU starts to burn upon impact, dissolving into minute airborne radioactive particles. Once absorbed into the body, some particles remain and irradiate surrounding cells. In Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, and other areas where DU rounds have been used in combat or exercises, reports cite alarming increases in cancer, leukemia, and congenital defects among the local population and the soldiers stationed in affected areas. Despite international warnings regarding its toxicity, the DU risk has been denied by its users and WHO as well.