- The Guardian,
- Wednesday March 22 2000
A basic large-scale map supplied by Nato for the first time indicates that the shells were used in 20 locations along the Albanian border, and eight more inside the province.
The UN's Balkan task force, which is evaluating the environmental impact of the conflict in Kosovo and Serbia, only received information about the use of the armour-piercing depleted uranium (DU) shells on February 7, four months after a personal intervention by the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan. The UN had first requested the information last summer.
But after internal bickering about the sensitivity of the DU issue, the UN and specialists from the World Health Organisation, the International Atomic Energy Agency and other scientific bodies, yesterday concluded that the information supplied by Nato was insufficient to carry out conclusive scientific research into the health damage on the ground. But they recommended that "where contamination has been confirmed, measures should be taken to prevent access".
Lord Robertson, Nato's secretary general, told Mr Annan in a letter that DU ammunition was used whenever American A-10 ground attack aircraft engaged Serb tanks or armoured vehicles: "It was used throughout Kosovo in approximately 100 missions. A total of approximately 31,000 rounds of DU ammunition was used."
Pekka Haavisto, the head of the task force, said this amount was equivalent to 10 tonnes of depleted uranium, a by-product of uranium enrichment for nuclear plants which, in civilian conditions, is regarded as toxic waste.
"People should be protected, these areas should be marked clearly. If small children go to play in these areas, taking some uranium dust or even some part of the ammunition left at these sites, there certainly is this toxicity risk," Mr Haavisto said.
Troops from several Nato countries serving in Kosovo are understood to have been told to take precautions against DU contamination.
DU is used to toughen warheads. Upon impact the shells explode in a fireball, producing a fine dust. Immediate inhalation is life-threatening, but the long-term effects are uncertain.
"An intact munition embedded in the ground is not hazardous provided it is not disturbed, but if it's in a dusty form in suspension, there is a potential chemical and a secondary radiological problem," said Dr Michael Clarke, scientific spokesman for the National Radiological Protection Board.
The danger comes mainly from inhalation or swallowing particles of DU.
Although suspicions have long surrounded the use of DU ammunition in the 78-day air war, and Nato has never denied its deployment, confirmation and details on the extent of its use revive concern about toxic pollution and the health risk.
Lord Robertson said that the ammunition used a non-critical by-product of the uranium refining process.
However, researchers are less concerned about potential radioactivity than the toxic nature of depleted uranium, a heavy metal. Evidence accumulated by some scientists since the Gulf war, where 10 times as much DU was used, has linked it to birth defects in Iraq and long-term illnesses, including cancer. But none of the research has been conclusive.
After years of delay due to the sensitivity of the issue among western member states, the World Health Organisation is due to finalise a study next month which will set standards on depleted uranium and define minimum levels of contamination. The Royal Society is also conducting research on the effect of depleted uranium on health.
