MIT

Massachusetts Institute of Technology






Depleted Uranium Weapons:
Toxic Contaminant or Necessary Technology?





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Speakers


Alexandra Miller is currently a radiobiologist at the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in Maryland. She has published several papers on the chemical and radiological toxicology and carcinogenicity of uranium and depleted uranium in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Dan Fahey is a policy analyst and graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and served in the Persian Gulf in July 1991. He has extensively researched the role of depleted uranium (DU) from spent munitions in Gulf War veterans’ health problems. His most recent report " Science or Science Fiction: Facts, Myths and Propaganda in the Debate Over Depleted Uranium Weapons " appeared in March 2003.

Jan Snihs is a researcher at the Swedish Radiation Protection Institute , and is currently the scientific leader of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP ) field missions to investigate DU contamination and health effects in the Balkans.

Michael Kilpatrick is Deputy Director of Deployment Health Support in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. He is a leading US Department of Defense spokesperson on deployment health issues related to depleted uranium. He has appeared in public with numerous briefings and presentations on the DU issue.

Tanya Palmateer Oxenberg is a Health Physicist at the U.S. Army Developmental Test Command at Aberdeen Proving Grounds who has extensive experience with DU contamination at firing ranges. She is currently at John Hopkins University studying DU transport in the environment resulting from spent ordance.

Thomas M. Fasy is an Associate Professor of Pathology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine . He traveled to Iraq in January and June of 2003 where he visited the university, medical schoold and hospitals. He also had the opportunity to meet with Professor Alim Yacoub, the Iraqi epidemiologist investigating the ongoing epidemics of childhood cancer and birth defects in Southern Iraq.


Moderators

Jonathan King (environmental and health) is a Professor of molecular biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has a long history of involvement in assessing the social and environmental consequences of scientific and military programs. Professor King was the recipient of MIT's Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Leadership Award in 2003.

Jim Walsh (policy) is Executive Director of the Managing the Atom Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. His research and writings focus on weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and the Middle East.