UN Finds Radiation at 8 Sites in Balkans Left by U.S. Weapons

PARIS A furor continued to spread across Europe on Friday about the noxious and even fatal effects that depleted uranium fallout may have had on NATO peacekeepers on the ground in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Environmentalists and scientists called on NATO to clean up the low level uranium, which was dispersed by U.S. weapons over large areas of Bosnia and Kosovo, because they say the radioactive and toxic material poses health risks to nature and human health.

"We found some radiation in the middle of villages where children were playing and there were cows grazing in contaminated areas," said Pekka Haavisto, chairman of a United Nations team that concluded a two-week mission to the area to assess the impact of uranium tipped weapons.

The scientists found low-level radiation at 8 of the 11 sites sampled, Mr. Haavisto said.

"We were surprised to find this a year and a half later," Mr. Haavisto said, noting how easily the material apparently spread around. "People had collected radioactive shards as souvenirs, and there were cows grazing in contaminated areas, which means the contaminated stuff can get into the milk."

Mr. Haavisto, who is also the former environment minister of Finland, said that while the radiation was low-level, as expected, the debris should be removed.

"We are recommending that until the cleanup starts, contaminated areas should be clearly marked and fenced off."

The study by the international team is due in two months.

But the European Union has now ordered a formal inquiry into whether there is a link between toxic fallout from the weapons and the recent cancer deaths of soldiers who have returned from the Balkans.

Nearly a dozen soldiers, most of them young men, have died recently of leukemia. A number of others have contracted the disease.

Other former peacekeepers have complained about a range of symptoms - such as chronic fatigue and hair loss - that in the United Stated have been associated with so-called Gulf War syndrome and which in Europea, are now widely described as "Balkan syndrome."

Tens of thousands of European soldiers who participated in Balkan peacekeeping operations have already undergone medical screening in France, Belgium and Canada.

But as the debate over the possible contamination of soldiers has become more furious, governments across Europe have had little choice but to commit themselves to investigations.

This week, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Finland, Greece and Bulgaria announced that they too would screen all their Balkan veterans.

At issue is the uranium that is left over after its most active components have been removed, mostly to use as nuclear fuel. Because of its hard and dense properties, so-called depleted uranium is found useful in making powerful shells that can penetrate tanks and concrete.

Depleted-uranium ammunition was first used in the Gulf War, when U.S. forces fired large quantities into Iran and Kuwait. U.S. bombers also dropped depleted-uranium ordnance in Kosovo and Bosnia.

Final Test Results Awaited

The discovery of radioactivity at the sites was a preliminary finding of testing still under way at laboratories in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Britain and Austria by the UN Environmental Program, news agencies reported Friday, quoting a UN spokesman.

"The final results will only be known when the UNEP report is published in 2001, but there is enough preliminary evidence to call for precautions when dealing with used depleted uranium or with sites where such ammunition might be present," said the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.

The UN field mission in November visited 11 of the 112 sites identified by NATO as having been targeted by ordnance containing depleted uranium during the bombardment of Kosovo. The UN team collected soil, water and vegetation samples and also conducted tests on buildings and destroyed vehicles.

"For this reason, we paid special attention to the risks that uranium toxicity might pose to the ground waters around the sites," Mr. Dujarric added.

Klaus Toepfer, the environmental program's executive director, said, "UNEP's aim is to determine whether the use of depleted uranium during the conflict may pose health or environmental risks - either now or in the future."

The UN said it also was planning a field mission to Serbia and Montenegro.

Italy launched an investigation last week into a possible link between depleted uranium munitions and about 30 cases of serious illness involving soldiers who served in missions Kosovo and earlier in Bosnia, 12 of whom developed cancer. Five of the soldiers have died of leukemia.

And France said that four French soldiers who served in the Balkans during the bombing campaign were being treated for leukemia.

The UN said five of the sites it analyzed were in the sector patrolled by Italian soldiers, while the other six were in the German zone.

News reports said Friday that the first German soldier possibly stricken because of time served in the Balkans had been identified.

The Bild newspaper, in an article to be published Saturday, said that a 25-year old soldier who had served in Mostar in Bosnia between August and November 1997 had fallen ill with leukemia the following January.

(AP, Reuters)