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NATO accused of wider uranium use

By Amra Kevic, Reuters, 4/22/2000
 

ELGRADE - Yugoslavia said yesterday that NATO planes had fired depleted uranium shells on eight locations in Yugoslavia, near Kosovo during airstrikes last year. 

A UN official said last month that NATO had admitted using depleted uranium weapons in Kosovo, exposing civilians, its own troops, and aid workers to health hazards, but that it remained unclear whether they were used elsewhere.

''Detailed investigation of Yugoslav territory, excluding Kosovo, showed that this ammunition was used on eight locations south of the 44th parallel,'' said Yugoslav Assistant Defense Minister General Slobodan Petkovic at a news conference.

Yugoslav Army teams found depleted uranium shells and fragments in the border regions of Bujanovac and Vranje in southern Serbia, in Uzice, Cacak and Kraljevo in western and central Serbia, and on the Montenegrin peninsula of Lustica.

''The degree of contamination ranges from the bottom limit of 200 becquerels to 235,000 becquerels per kilogram sample of soil, or 1,000 times above the tolerable level,'' Petkovic said. The sites were mainly farmland.

''Measures are now underway to seal off these areas to people and animals,'' said Petkovic, presenting a government report on the environmental consequences of NATO's bombing campaign from March to June.

He did not give the exact locations or details of the size and extent of the contamination in each case.

Pekka Haavisto, head of the environment task force, in March said NATO was still holding back crucial information on where and how it used the depleted uranium shells.

The Yugoslav Army estimated that US jets had fired 50,000 depleted uranium rounds during the 11-week campaign. The United States had earlier said it had used 31,000 rounds.

''In this way, a very prosperous country can rid itself of its nuclear waste cheaply,'' Petkovic said.

Kosovo was more exposed since depleted uranium was used on 100 locations, mostly around Prizren, Urosevac, Djakovica, Decani, and Djurakovac, Petkovic said, but added that Yugoslav authorities had no access to the region now.

He said the Prizren-Djakovica-Pec stretch, where Italian and German peacekeepers are deployed, was targeted the most.

Kosovo has been controlled by NATO-led peacekeepers and UN civilian administrators since Serb forces withdrew last June after the bombing.

Some specialists believe particles and dust from the dense, heavy metal shells can contaminate land and water sources with toxic, radioactive particles.

The Pentagon said last month that the 31,000 rounds of depleted uranium bullets used by US attack jets did not present a significant hazard to health or the environment.

Yugoslavia called yesterday for international help to remove contaminated soil to nuclear waste disposal sites.

This story ran on page A12 of the Boston Globe on 4/22/2000.
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