TAB A – Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Glossary
This tab lists acronyms and abbreviations found in this report. Additionally, the Glossary defines selected technical terms not found in common usage.
Acronyms and Abbreviations
| AHCDU | Ad Hoc Committee on Depleted Uranium |
| COMEDS | Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services |
| DU | Depleted Uranium |
| KFOR | Kosovo Force |
| MOD | UK Ministry of Defence |
| mm | millimeter |
| NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
| SFOR | Stabilization Force |
| TCN | Troop Contributing Nation |
| U | Uranium |
| UK | United Kingdom |
| UNEP | United Nations Environment Programme |
| US | United States |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
| Aerosolization | To disperse as a suspension of fine solid or liquid particles in air. |
| Anaemia | A condition in which the blood is deficient in red blood cells, in hemoglobin, or in total volume (British variant of anemia). |
| Americium | A radioactive metallic element produced by the radioactive decay of certain plutonium isotopes after bombardment of uranium, neptunium, and/or plutonium with high-energy neutrons. |
| Beta-2-microglobulin | An indicator of potential kidney damage. |
| Bioassay | Determination of the quantity, type and location of radioactive material in the human body by direct measurement or by analysis of materials excreted or removed from the body. |
| Carcinogenic | Producing or inciting cancer. |
| Congenital | Existing at or dating from birth. |
| Depleted uranium | Uranium having a percentage of U-235 smaller than the 0.7% found in natural uranium. It is obtained as a by-product from U-235 enrichment. |
| Enriched uranium | Uranium in which the abundance of the U-235 isotope is increased above normal. |
| Epidemiological | That which deals with the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in a population. |
| Euratom Treaty | Treaty that established the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). |
| Hematological | Of or relating to blood. |
| Ionizing | Converting wholly or partly into an atom or group of atoms that carries a positive or negative electric charge as a result of having lost or gained one or more electrons. |
| Latency | The period of time between exposure or injury occurring and the clinical appearance of a disease. |
| Mass spectrometry | Any of various analytical methods in which atoms are ionized, dispersed, and collected according to mass. Allows the ratio of uranium isotopes in a sample to be measured so as to assess portions of natural and depleted uranium. |
| Neptunium | A radioactive metallic element that is chemically similar to uranium and is obtained in nuclear reactors as a by-product in the production of plutonium from uranium. |
| Radon | A heavy radioactive gaseous element formed by the decay of radium. |
| Plutonium | A radioactive metallic element similar chemically to uranium that is formed as several isotopes (239-242) by decay of neptunium. |
| Polonium | A radioactive metallic element that emits an alpha particle to form an isotope of lead. |
| Radionuclide | A radioactive species of atom characterized by the makeup of its nucleus (the number of protons, the number of neutrons, and the energy content) which causes the nucleus to be unstable. |
| Renal | Relating to the kidneys. |
| Retrospective | Extending in scope or effect to a prior time or to conditions that existed or originated in the past. |
| Technetium | A metallic element obtained in the fission of uranium and by bombarding molybdenum with deuterons or neutrons. |
| Transuranic | Of, relating to, or being an element with an atomic number greater than that of uranium. |
| Uranium | A natural and commonly occurring radioactive element which is a mixture of three isotopes; U-234, U-235, and U-238. By weight, natural uranium is about 0.01% U-234, 0.072% U-235, and 99.27% U-238. |
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