Uranium weapon fears in Kosovo
BBC :Friday, April 9, 1999
By Environment Correspondent Alex Kirby
Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov says he believes Nato
forces may be using weapons containing radioactivity
against Yugoslavia.
"In a number of areas of Kosovo, experts have detected
enhanced radiation levels in the atmosphere and on the
ground," Mr Ivanov said.
"This gives grounds for thinking that Nato may be using new
types of weapons against Yugoslavia, ones with radioactive
components."
His suggestion echoes other unconfirmed reports that Nato
aircraft are using munitions containing depleted uranium
(DU).
The Ministry of Defence said it did not think DU weapons
were being used by Nato.
But the Labour MP Tam Dalyell, who opposes the use of
force against Yugoslavia, told BBC News Online he thought
it was "more than possible".
The A-10 jets being used over Kosovo against tanks were
also used to attack Iraqi forces in 1991.
During that war, the jets fired 30 mm rounds reinforced with
DU, a waste product of the uranium enrichment process.
The substance is 1.7 times more dense than lead and is
used in an alloy form in shells to make them better
penetrate targets.
Danger for the region
John Catalinottto of the International Action Center in New
York, set up by former US Attorney-General Ramsey Clark
and others to oppose US military involvement around the
world, said: "As the shell hits its target, it burns and
releases uranium oxide into the air.
"The poisonous and radioactive uranium is most
dangerous when inhaled into the body, where it will release
radiation during the life of the person who inhaled it."
The IAC said the Pentagon's decision to use the A-10s in
the conflict was "a danger to the people and environment of
the entire Balkans".
And it claimed "solid scientific evidence" that DU residues in
southern Iraq are responsible for a large increase in
stillbirths, birth defects, childhood leukaemia and other
cancers.
Many allied troops who served
in the 1991 war say they are
victims of Gulf War Syndrome
(GWS), characterised by
chronic fatigue, weight loss,
and defects in children born
subsequently.
In February, 16 British Gulf War
veterans said they had proof
that they were suffering from
radiation poisoning, which they
thought could be a factor in
GWS.
Doctors in Iraq say children there have been damaged by
the same radiation.
But the US Defense Department said there was no
evidence of a link between cancer and DU, which was no
more radioactive than lead.
A report from the Ministry of Defence in London said last
month that DU was unlikely to have contributed to GWS.
It said DU presented two hazards - a radiation and a
chemical toxicity risk.
The report said the radiation risk was low, and the chemical
toxicity risk "similar to that posed by other heavy metals such
as lead".
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