UK minister sorry for misleading Parliament over depleted uranium

Guardian : Depleted uranium (DU) is attractive for use in bullets and shells because its density, at 19 g/cm ³, is so high. Despite its name, DU retains some radioactivity and is chemically toxic—which makes its use in munitions controversial. Nick Harvey, the number-two official at Britain’s Ministry of Defense, has now admitted that he misled members of the British parliament on whether a ministry review had concluded that DU munitions are allowed under the Geneva Conventions. In an apology to MPs, Harvey admitted that the review had not been requested and did not exist. The status of DU munitions in the Geneva Conventions hinges on the question of environmental damage. As the Guardian‘s Rob Edwards notes in his story, in 1998 the UK government ratified a protocol of the Geneva Conventions that stipulates that all weapons must be reviewed on whether they cause “widespread and severe damage to the natural environment.”