Researchers have found uranium-236 in depleted uranium (DU) weapons from the Balkans which they have been testing, but the isotope should not be there, radiation protection experts in Finland and Sweden said today.

Testing of the weapons remains was done in Finland and Switzerland.

U-236 is formed only under irradiation, indicating some of the DU came from reprocessed uranium. But the experts said the U-236 has very low radioactivity and they do not think it is any more dangerous than U-235, which comprises more than 99% of the DU.

There has been concern that the DU used in the Balkans and the Gulf War caused leukemia among soldiers, something most experts say is not credible. They added that no plutonium--also formed only inside reactors--has been found in the material.