The Australian Democrats on Tuesday called for the government to release a defence report into possible exposure of Australian troops in Iraq to depleted uranium (DU) left over from earlier fighting.
Democrats leader Lyn Allison said the government's assurances that no troops were put at risk from DU could not be taken seriously while the government kept the survey report secret.
"There are severe health consequences of depleted uranium inhalation and the government should be obliged to provide details on just what our troops were and are exposed to in Iraq," she said in a statement.
Depleted uranium is a waste product of the nuclear enrichment process which is used to make armour piercing projectiles because of its extreme hardness. In solid form it produces almost no radioactivity.
But on striking a target, it produces fine toxic dust which contains uranium oxide. Some adverse health effects have been attributed to DU exposure although there is vigorous international debate about just how harmful it is.
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