UNEP-Kosovo

Uranio: Nazioni Unite inviano esperti in Kosovo (3 novembre)

UNEP assessment team to visit depleted uranium sites in Kosovo
http://balkans.unep.ch/press/press001103.html

_Geneva, 03 November 2000_ - The United Nations Environment Programme is sending a team of experts to Kosovo to assess the impact of ordnance containing depleted uranium (DU) used during last year's Balkans conflict.

The team will arrive in Kosovo on 6 November and spend two weeks visiting up to six selected sites. It will measure radioactivity levels and take soil and water samples to test for the heavy metals that result when DU breaks down.

The aim of the assessment will be to determine whether the use of DU during the conflict may result in health or environmental risks now or in the future and to publish a report on the findings.

The team will include a total of about 12 experts from Finland, Italy, Switzerland, the Swedish Radiation Protection Institute, Bristol University (UK), the International Atomic Energy Agency; and UNEP.

Once the field assessments are complete, the various participating institutions will conduct laboratory analyses during December. The final report is expected to be available sometime in January or February 2001. The assessment work on depleted uranium is being financed by donors, Switzerland being the main contributor.

The identification of the sites to be visited was made possible by data supplied to the United Nations by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The sites chosen for measurement work are in the western part of Kosovo.

The field mission will be carried out in cooperation with the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR).

_Note to journalists: _For more information, please contact UNEP spokesperson Tore Brevik at +254-2-623292, email tore.brevik@unep.org
[tore.brevik@unep.org] ; or the Chairman of the DU Assessment Team, Pekka Haavisto on +41-79-4770877.