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New research on depleted uranium in the environment

7 July 2003

The Natural Environment Research Council has today advertised for research proposals from scientists wishing to study the effect of depleted uranium on the environment.

The study is in response to needs identified by the Ministry of Defence and will cost £1·2m. The main objectives of the NERC programme will be to consider the transport, uptake and behaviour of depleted uranium in terrestrial and marine environments.

The programme will cover some of the key environmental factors also identified in the Royal Society report, "The Health Hazards of DU Munitions, Part II." The proposed work includes how depleted uranium moves through the environment, what changes happen to it and how it is taken up by soil, plants and animals. These issues will be looked at over short timescales of 5-10 years and over longer periods of more than 10 years.

This independent programme on depleted uranium will complement other research being undertaken by the Medical Research Council and the Ministry of Defence. It will focus on the environment, and will not consider the human health effects of depleted uranium, or operational issues associated with its use. However, it will encourage communication with those involved in human health and environmental risk assessment.

At the end of the programme, we will be well placed to assess the way in which DU moves throughout the environment and to quantify the uncertainties associated with that movement. We should also be in a position to suggest appropriate measures to minimize any effects on the environment.

Further information

NERC Press Office
Natural Environment Research Council
Polaris House, North Star Avenue
Swindon, SN2 1EU
Tel: 01793 411561
Mob: 07917 557215

Notes

Programme details

Transport, uptake and behaviour of depleted uranium in the environment

Some key questions and knowledge gaps to be studied within this programme include:

• Differences in the environmental behaviour of DU when compared with the behaviour of natural uranium
• Transport processes of DU in terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments
• Water transport on the surface and in the subsurface and associated predictive models
• Plant and animal uptake into the human and animal food chains
• New monitoring and analytical methodologies

The programme will not look at the impact of depleted uranium on ecosystem or animal health, and it will not be monitoring its distribution as the emphasis is on basic science. Further details on the work topics can be found in the call for proposals on the NERC website

1. The programme will be managed using the NERC consortium grant scheme which has an outline bid stage. See the funding page on our website for further information. An expert peer review group will assess the outline bids. Invited full proposals will be subject to an independent peer review process and applications will be assessed on their scientific quality and relevance to the programme objectives, using NERC's standard criteria as laid out in our Science Plan.

2. The UK Natural Environment Research Council funds and carries out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists.

Press release: 12/03

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