NATO, EU move depleted uranium row centre stage

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

NATO, EU move depleted uranium row centre stage
  
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Controversy over NATO's use in the Balkans of 
tank-busting shells tipped with depleted uranium moved firmly onto 
the political agenda Monday, although health experts doubted any link 
to blood cancer among soldiers. 

NATO and the European Union will hold separate meetings this week 
amid growing concern that radioactive depleted uranium may have 
caused dozens of cases of leukemia among peacekeepers. 

While several EU states backed calls for NATO to come clean on where, 
when and how much depleted uranium (DU) ammunition was used, the 
alliance insisted there was no risk of contamination. 

Mark Laity, special adviser to NATO Secretary-General George 
Robertson, told Reuters Television there was no scientific evidence 
to prove that the specially hardened munitions designed to pierce 
tanks were linked to leukemia, a blood cancer. 

"In general terms, the current state of medical opinion is that 
depleted uranium is not a risk. You just have to take precautions 
under certain circumstances. But the radiation risks are very low 
indeed. 

"That's why it's depleted uranium. It's got less radiation than 
normal uranium which is in your backyard. You're breathing it now. 
It's in the air we breathe." 

That view was supported by World Health Organization experts who 
doubted the weapons had caused leukemia among troops. 

But the Geneva-based WHO warned that children playing in former 
conflict areas where the weapons exploded could be at risk and 
recommended that soldiers who had taken home DU shell parts as 
souvenirs should dispose of them promptly. 

"Based on our studies and the evidence we have, it is unlikely that 
soldiers in Kosovo ran a high risk of contracting leukemia from 
exposure to radiation from depleted uranium," WHO specialist Michael 
Repacholi told a news conference. 

CALLS FOR NATO DETAILS 

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder joined calls for NATO to 
investigate the claims that Western troops in the Balkans fell ill 
through exposure to the depleted uranium which is used in missiles, 
shells and bullets to increase armor penetration. 

"We want a complete examination of where these munitions have been 
used and with what consequences," Schroeder told reporters in 
Hanover. "Of course we also want to know if there are connections 
between cases of illness and the use of these weapons." 

It also emerged that NATO warned its member states 18 months ago of a 
"possible toxic threat" from radioactive weaponry, widely blamed for 
the "Balkans Syndrome" that has allegedly caused deaths and cancers 
among peacekeepers. 

The German Defense Ministry confirmed reports that NATO issued 
warnings in July 1999 recommending countries take their own 
"preventative measures." 

The controversy erupted after six Italian soldiers died of leukemia 
after serving in the Balkans. 

It echoes claims that Western use of depleted uranium weapons in the 
1991 Gulf War caused thousands of Iraqi civilian deaths from cancer 
and the birth of deformed babies. 

The Pentagon has said it is unlikely there is a link between the use 
of depleted uranium weapons in the Gulf and veterans' claims they 
caused a wide range of health problems among the military. 

U.S. attack jets fired 31,000 rounds of the ammunition against Serb 
targets during NATO's 1999 campaign to drive the Yugoslav army out of 
Kosovo. Some 10,000 rounds were also fired in neighboring Bosnia in 
1994-5. 

SCOTTISH WATERS LITTERED WITH SHELLS 

In Britain, the environmental group Friends of the Earth and a 
Scottish parliamentarian demanded a cleanup of waters around Scotland 
after the Defense Ministry admitted it fired over 6,000 DU shells 
into the Solway Firth in training in the past decade. 

NATO political advisers will discuss the DU row Tuesday and the North 
Atlantic Council -- the alliance's permanent ambassadors -- meets on 
the issue in Brussels Wednesday. NATO medical experts meet next 
Monday. 

Swedish Defense Minister Bjoern von Sydow said the European Union's 
new Political and Security Committee would also discuss the 
controversy Tuesday, but he warned against any quick fixes. 

EU foreign ministers were also expected to add the issue to the 
agenda for their monthly meeting in Brussels Jan. 22. 

NATIONS STEP UP MILITARY HEALTH CHECKS 

Germany's Defense Ministry said it would review all leukemia cases in 
the military to see if there was a higher rate in those soldiers who 
had served in the Balkans. 

Finland, Greece and Norway all stepped up health checks and radiation 
controls for their troops, and Switzerland said it would reexamine 
the death of an officer who served in Bosnia in 1998. 

Three Portuguese ministers will visit Kosovo to see whether soldiers 
are at risk from so-called "Balkans Syndrome," following the death 
from brain disease of one Portuguese soldier who served in Kosovo and 
news that another has leukemia. 

Croatian Premier Ivica Racan vowed to press NATO to clarify whether 
alliance aircraft dumped depleted uranium bombs in the Adriatic Sea 
as they returned from Kosovo to bases in Italy. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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