Army: GIs near Iraqi nuclear site are safe

[unhappycamper]

Army: GIs near Iraqi nuclear site are safe
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 27, 2007 15:00:11 EST

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Soldiers who were stationed at an Iraqi nuclear facility near Baghdad were not exposed to harmful levels of radiation, an Army medical expert said Tuesday at a meeting intended to address concerns from soldiers and their families.

Members of the 101st Airborne Division were among soldiers who served at the Tuwaitha nuclear complex during a nine-month deployment in 2005-2006.

More than 750 soldiers were tested for exposure since 2003, said Col. Mark Melanson, chief of the health physics office at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Only about a quarter showed any radiation exposure, he said. Those levels were below safe limits set by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Army officials scheduled two public meetings on Tuesday to address the issue after a former soldier in the unit told WPTY-TV in Memphis that he was concerned about his exposure.

Melanson, a member of the Army Radiological Advisory Medical Team, visited the 23,000-acre site south of Baghdad. He said the site contained three bombed-out nuclear reactors, nuclear waste and a processed uranium storage site. The complex had been abandoned and looted before soldiers arrived, he said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_soldierradiati...