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NATO ammette uso di uranio impoverito



La NATO ammette uso di uranio impoverito, comunque gli esperti sostengono 
che le informazioni fornite sono ancora insufficienti.
In coda, link al rapporto sul depleted uranium compilato dalla balkan task 
force (BTF)di UNEP e UNCHS

Spero interessi
Alessandro Gimona



UNEP/UNCHS News Release.  For information only.  Not an official record.

Jointly issued by UNEP/UNCHS

NATO CONFIRMS TO THE UNITED NATIONS,  USE OF
DEPLETED URANIUM DURING THE KOSOVO CONFLICT
GENEVA, 21 March 2000 -  The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has 
confirmed to the United Nations that depleted uranium (DU) was used during 
the Kosovo conflict.  But, according to the Joint UNEP/UNCHS Balkans Task 
Force (BTF) the information provided is not of sufficient detail to 
facilitate an accurate field assessment of the environmental and human 
health consequences of its us at the present time.
The new information on DU was sent to the United Nations  Secretary-General, 
Kofi Annan from NATO Secretary-General, Lord Robertson and  states:
"DU rounds were used whenever the A-10 engaged armour during Operation 
Allied Force.  Therefore, it was used throughout Kosovo during approximately 
100 missions... A total of approximately 31,000 rounds of DU ammunition were 
used in operation Allied Force.  The major focus of these operations was in 
an area west of the Pec-Dakovica-Prizren highway; in the area surrounding 
Klina; in the area around Prizren; and in an area to the north of a line 
joining Suva Reka and Urosevac.  However many missions using DU also took 
place outside these areas."
This information was reviewed yesterday by scientists from the BTF's Desk 
Assessment Group on Depleted Uranium - an interagency group that was 
established last year as part of the United Nations Environment Programme 
(UNEP)-led assessment of the environmental consequences of the Kosovo 
conflict.  Whilst welcoming the positive cooperation of NATO, the group, 
which includes experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), the 
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs (DDA), and the 
Swedish Radiation Protection Institute, concluded that despite the 
additional information there was still insufficient data available on the 
exact location of the DU ordnance to comprehensively carry out an objective 
and scientifically based environmental and human health impact assessment in 
Kosovo.
The Group emphasized that the new information on DU should not be a cause of 
widespread alarm.  However, it  also concluded that because of NATO's 
confirmation that DU was used, the recommendations made in their October 
1999 report should be followed.  The Group's report, which was based on the 
then best available information, a hypothetical scenario and unverified 
assumptions, recommends that at places where contamination has been 
confirmed, measures should be taken to prevent access.  Local authorities 
and people concerned should be informed of the possible risks and 
appropriate precautionary measures.
The conclusions of the BTF expert group have been forwarded to the UN 
Secretary-General and the heads of other concerned UN agencies, as well as 
UNMIK in Kosovo.
In the report, "The Kosovo Conflict -
Consequences for the Environment and Human Settlements", the BTF raised the 
issue of the consequences to human health and the environment by the 
possible use of depleted uranium.  The report recommended that a thorough 
review of the health effects of exposure to DU should be undertaken.
At yesterday's meeting in Geneva, the Desk Assessment Group was advised that 
WHO is preparing a more general, "generic" report on the health effects of 
DU.  That report should be available by the middle of May, 2000 and is not 
specific to Kosovo.   The Royal Society (UK) is also preparing an 
independent report on the DU topic.
The issue of depleted uranium was only one part of last year's assessment 
and the BTF's overall report concluded that the Kosovo conflict did not 
cause an environmental catastrophe affecting the Balkans region as a whole, 
but that pollution detected at four environmental "hot spots" (Pancevo, 
Kragujevac, Novi Sad and Bor), is serious and poses a threat to human 
health.  As part of the second phase of its work, the BTF is currently 
preparing detailed environmental clean-up feasibility studies (for 
submission to donors) at the four mentioned sites in Serbia.
The BTF was set-up by Klaus Toepfer, Executive
Director of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and UN Centre for Human
Settlements, UNCHS
(Habitat), in May 1999, to assess the
environmental and human settlement consequences
of the Balkans conflict. Under the leadership of
the former Finnish
Environment and Development Cooperation
Minister, Pekka Haavisto, the BTF acted on the
recommendation of an earlier UN mission to the
region that a detailed
assessment of the full extent of the
environmental impact of the conflict be urgently carried out.   The BTF 
report is available on the Web at http://www.grid.unep.ch/btf.



For more information, please contact:  Tore J.
Brevik, UNEP Spokesman/Director of
Communications and Public Information, P.O. Box
30552, Nairobi, Kenya; tel:  (254 2) 623292;
fax:  62-3692; Email:  cpiinfo@unep.org or
Robert Bisset, Office of the UNEP Spokesman and
BTF Press Officer in Geneva on: +41-22-917-8598,
Nairobi +254-2-623084, email: robert.bisset@unep.org.

UNEP News Release 00/33

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