Dumfries bemoans DU shell firings

Shells are fired into the Solway Firth

By the BBC's Huw Williams

A foot-long shell is loaded into an enormous gun on the Ministry of Defence's Dundrennan range on the Solway Firth, Scotland.

Final preparations are completed in the firing control room and the countdown begins.

The ordinance is aimed into the Solway Firth. The noise echoes around local communities like Kirkcudbright and unease is growing about the hazards of DU.

Kathleen Gleese, chairwoman of the Dumfries Council is worried about the authorities' lack of interest once the shells disappear into the Solway:

"There doesn't appear to be any plans to retrieve them. They don't know if they're corroding or if they're imploding."

"Why carry on doing this when there's still so much uncertainty," she says.

'No problems'

But these concerns are dismissed by David Abbott, the range's Radiation Safety Officer, who points to annual environmental monitoring reports.

"We give our personnel as much protection as possible. Looking at the environment to date we've had no indication there's any problem at all," he says.

The MOD insists DU ammunition is needed because British troops have the best rounds available to take out enemy tanks.

"We've heard that argument before" says Alistair Morgan, the local MP and MSP. He points to the once-indispensible land mine - which is now considered morally unjustifiable.

"Perhaps in 10 or 15 years into the future they'll be saying the same things about DU," he says.

This scepticism is echoed on the streets of Kirkcudbright.

On Tuesday 15 more DU shells joined the 6000 to 7000 already lying at the bottom of the Solway Firth.

The next test firings are scheduled to take place in about two months time.