The Natural Environment Research Council has launched a £1.2 million research programme on the effects of depleted uranium, with a focus on the environment. It will follow up Royal Society reports that looked at possible links between depleted uranium and illness in soldiers and civilians. The proposed work includes how depleted uranium moves around the environment, how it changes and how it is taken up by soil, plants and animals over timescales of five to ten years and longer. The research intends to complement programmes by the Medical Research Council and the Ministry of Defence.