The mountain Plackovica near Vranje and three other areas in southern Serbia are contaminated by DU ammunition since the ending of the NATO bombings in summer 1999. The areas are located in the communities of Vranje, Presevo, and Bujanovac, and are closed to the public, nuclear scientist Radojko Pavlovic of the Belgrade Radiation Protection Institute Vinca said.

Parts of the contaminated areas have been decontaminated in intense efforts meanwhile. Many projectiles had entered the soil to depths of 1.5 to 2 meters and were only difficult to locate.

Srdjan Markovic, the director of the institue, said that nothing reliable could be said about any increase of cancer and leukema incidence in Serbia, since epidemiological data were not available. But local clinics would have no knowledge of any increase. Radojko Pavlovic pointed out, however that latency periods of 3 to 4 years must be taken into consideration.

(compiled and translated from Berliner Zeitung (Germany) Jan. 5, 2001)