2001 Depleted Uranium News Stories

DoD Report: No Link Between Depleted Uranium, Illnesses

November 29, 2001 (Washington) - DoD deployment health officials have released an information paper that states no country that sent troops to the Balkans has found a health threat related to depleted uranium.

Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the process by which natural uranium is enriched to produce reactor fuel and nuclear weapons, according to the paper. DU's extremely heavy and dense nature has made it a valuable component in U.S. armor and weapons for many years, it says. (Full Story)

UN experts end mission to 6 depleted uranium sites in Serbia, Montenegro

November 5, 2001 (UN News Service) - United Nations experts have found depleted uranium (DU) contamination in four of the six sites in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia targeted during the 1999 Kosovo conflict by ordnance containing the substance, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) agency said today. (Full Story)

DoD studies medical impact of depleted uranium in the Balkans

October 30, 2001 (DoD News Release) - The Department of Defense released today an information paper, "Depleted Uranium Environmental and Medical Surveillance in the Balkans," which summarizes medical and environmental assessments performed in the Balkans area by a number of countries. On the whole, these assessments have not found any connections between depleted uranium exposure in the Balkans and negative health effects. Most of the work assessed was done independently, by organizations outside the Defense Department. The information paper examines assessments performed by the United Kingdom Royal Society, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environmental Programme and others. (Full Story)

UN environment agency to assess depleted uranium sites in Serbia, Montenegro

October 29, 2001 (UN News Service) - A team of experts from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is visiting the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia this week to investigate sites in Serbia and Montenegro that were targeted by ordnance containing depleted uranium (DU) during the 1999 Kosovo conflict. (Full Story)

NATO on tests for contamination with depleted uranium in Kosovo

September 17, 2001 (State Dept) - "Medical tests for radioactive contamination in Kosovo showed no indication that [German] Federal Foreign Office employees have been exposed to depleted weapons-grade uranium. A health hazard can be ruled out." (Full Story)

Schweinfurt, Grafenwoehr test results show no depleted uranium

August 13, 2001 (Heidelberg, Germany) - A final report by the Bayerische Landesamt fuer Umweltschutz concludes that a recent round of testing shows no indication of depleted uranium.

The BLU performed DU surveys at Conn Barracks, Schweinfurt and Grafenwoehr Training Area in February and March. The testing occurred after the Bavarian State Chancellery contacted the USFLO Bavaria and requested that USAREUR conduct radiation measurements and soil testing for two DU incidents. (Full Story)

United Nations Environment Programme recommends precautionary action regarding depleted uranium in Kosovo

March 14, 2001 (Geneva) - The final report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on the environmental impact of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used during the 1999 Kosovo conflict was released in Geneva today.

In November 2000, a UNEP field mission visited 11 of the 112 sites that were identified as being targeted by ordnance containing DU, including five in the Italian sector (MNB (W)) and six in the German sector (MNB (S)). (Full Story)

DU consultative document published

February 13, 2001 (UK Defence Today) - The MoD is seeking the views of experts on proposals for a screening programme for personnel with concerns about possible depleted uranium exposure.

A consultative document, setting out the technical and scientific issues associated with possible screening programmes has been published today. The document invites advice and comment from a wide range of expert bodies. (Full Story)

UNEP confirms Plutonium found in DU ammunition

February 16, 2001 (Geneva/Nairobi) - Traces of plutonium have been detected in the DU penetrators found at sites in Kosovo that were investigated in November 2000 by the United Nations Environment Programme's Depleted Uranium Assessment Team, which included the International Atomic Energy Agency, UNEP reported here today.

The existence of plutonium was confirmed by the two laboratories tasked with analysing the penetrators - the Swiss AC-Laboratory Spiez and the Swedish Radiation Protection Institute (SSI). Together with three other European laboratories, these labs have been analysing a total of 340 soil, water, and other samples taken during the November field mission. (Full Story)

NATO Secretary General on Depleted Uranium, NMD, European Security

January 26, 2001 (State Dept) - NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson spoke January 25 in Berlin at the Editors' Forum of the Federal Security Academy on European security in the new century.

Before proceeding to the body of his remarks, Robertson addressed the depleted uranium (DU) controversy at some length. (Full Story)

UNEP and IAEA exploring the possibility of sending depleted uranium missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Iraq

January 25, 2001 (Vienna/Nairobi) - Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), have agreed to consider ways and means to respond to requests for fact finding missions to Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Iraq where depleted uranium was used during military conflicts. The two organizations will co-ordinate their action with the World Health Organization, which has recently decided to send a team to study the health effects of depleted uranium in Iraq, as well as with other relevant UN system organizations. (Full Story)

SFOR takes the scientific approach to DU ammunition

January 24, 2001 (Hadzici) - On January 16, an SFOR investigation team visited a factory site in the small town of Hadzici (approximately 12 kms. west of Sarajevo). Following the discovery of a cache of suspected 30mm Depleted Uranium (DU) rounds, the team's mission was threefold: to measure any radiation from the spent rounds; measure any possible soil contamination; verify whether the ammunition was in fact DU. (Full Story)

NATO says no link between depleted uranium, Cancer   

January 24, 2001 (Brussels) - Briefing reporters on the findings of NATO's Ad Hoc Committee on Depleted Uranium, Committee Chairman Daniel Speckhard said January 24 that "based on the data today, no link has been established between depleted uranium and any forms of cancer."(Full Story)

UNEP confirms Uranium 236 found in DU penetrators

January 16, 2001 (Geneva) - Early laboratory results confirm that pieces of DU penetrators found at sites targeted by NATO during the 1999 Kosovo conflict contain Uranium 236, the United Nations Environment Programme reported here today.

Scientists working for the UNEP Depleted Uranium (DU) Assessment Group are analysing the contents of the seven penetrators - ammunition tips made out of depleted uranium - found during a UNEP field mission to Kosovo in November 2000. (Full Story)

Cohen: Handled properly, DU poses no risk

January 11, 2001 (Washington) - If handled properly, depleted uranium, known as DU, poses no risk to American or allied forces, according to Defense Secretary William S. Cohen.

"We have been using depleted uranium weapons for decades," he said Jan. 10 at the National Press Club here. "Depleted uranium is also used in most of our aircraft and most of our ships. It's used as ballast. So it's around us all the time and it doesn't pose an unreasonable risk." (Full Story)

Depleted Uranium sites in Kosovo detailed by UNEP

January 11, 2001 (Geneva) - Full details of the sites where depleted uranium (DU) weapons were deployed in Kosovo and inspected by United Nations Environment Programme scientists were unveiled t a press conference in Geneva today.

The information on all 112 sites where depleted uranium was used was supplied to UNEP by NATO. In total, 11 sites were inspected by UNEP's Balkan Task Force team, which was led by Pekka Haavisto, former Finnish environment minister. (Full Story)

United Nations Environment Programme samples from depleted uranium sites in Kosovo now being analysed in five laboratories

January 5, 2001 (Geneva) - Rigorous analyses of depleted uranium (DU) samples collected by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) during its 5-17 November 2000 field assessment mission to Kosovo are now under way in five European laboratories, in an effort to determine whether the use of DU during the Balkans conflict may pose any risks to human health or the environment. (Full Story)

Head of UN Kosovo mission visits site hit by depleted uranium ammunition

January 9, 2001 (UN News Service) - The head of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) today visited a site which was hit by ammunition containing depleted uranium during the 1999 Balkans conflict.

At a destroyed bus station in Klina, Dr. Bernard Kouchner witnessed a demonstration by Italian troops of their techniques in seeking radiation left by depleted uranium. (Full Story)