ENVIRONMENT-KOSOVO: Depleted Uranium Risks Minimal, Says UN

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Mar 13 2001 (IPS) - Two United Nations agencies played down the environmental and health risks posed by the depleted uranium used in missiles during the conflict that spread to Kosovo in 1999, though they caution that water supplies remain at risk.

The findings from an analysis of 355 samples collected in that area of the Balkans by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) researchers “show no cause for alarm,” said officials Tuesday.

Another study, carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO), concluded that “no convincing evidence is available to indicate any health impacts in the Kosovo population associated with the use of depleted uranium.”

But the UNEP report warns that the safety of groundwater in the areas of Kosovo affected by the 78 days of bombings against Yugoslavia in 1999 remains in danger of radiation contamination.

“There are still considerable scientific uncertainties, especially related to the safety of groundwater,” said Pekka Haavisto, Chairman of UNEP’s Depleted Uranium Assessment Team.

“In order to reduce scientific uncertainty about the impact of DU (depleted uranium) on the environment, particularly over time, UNEP recommends that scientific work be undertaken in Bosnia- Herzegovina,” which was the target of air attacks in 1994 and 1995, said the UN agency’s director Klaus Töpfer.

An overall environmental assessment should be conducted for Bosnia-Herzegovina, where DU ordnance has persisted in the environment for over five years, Töpfer added.

Concern about the health and environmental effects of depleted uranium first arose in the European countries that took part in the UN peacekeeping missions sent to the Balkans.

Alarm spread as a result unofficial reports that linked a series of leukaemia cases among soldiers who served in Kosovo to the presence of depleted uranium there.

Investigations into the Kosovo situation were delayed until the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) confirmed in February 2000 that its military forces had used depleted uranium in missiles during the conflict.

Five months later, as a result of pressure from the UN, NATO handed over a detailed map of the 112 sites that were bombed.

The WHO report points out that “the health and population information systems presently available in Kosovo do not permit the reliable identification of any changes in disease frequency in the population.”

But the UN health agency revealed that the population of Kosovo’s Mitrovica region registers unusually high levels of lead. The WHO report also underscored the alarming rate of traffic- related deaths.

“The unlikely health effects of depleted uranium exposure, if any, are much smaller in comparison to these causes of death or incapacity,” says the WHO.

Depleted uranium is a by-product of the process used to enrich naturally occurring uranium to be used as a fuel for nuclear reactors and in nuclear weapons.

With a density 1.7 times greater than lead, DU is used to reinforce the penetration power of offensive munitions when fired against armoured vehicles.

UNEP ruled out “cause for alarm,” but in light of the scientific uncertainties surrounding DU, the agency proposed that, together with the WHO and the International Atomic Energy Agency, it would send more research missions to the areas where DU munitions have been used in armed conflicts.