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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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