http://www.serbianna.com/news/2005/02239.html
Associated Press
December 13, 2005
Serbia Cleans Up Depleted Uranium From 1999 NATO
Bombing
BELGRADE - Serbian authorities are completing the
clean-up of depleted uranium left by the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization's 1999 bombing campaign,
the Environment Ministry said Monday.
More than six years after the alliance used depleted
uranium shells in air strikes against government
troops fighting Kosovo Albanian separatists, the
clean-up of the radioactive pollutants has been
finished at a major site in southern Serbia, the
ministry said.
Nuclear experts and clean-up teams removed 3,468 cubic
meters of contaminated soil from the Borovac site, 280
kilometers south of Belgrade, where 44 depleted
uranium shells exploded.
Depleted uranium, a byproduct of radioactive enriched
uranium, is used by U.S. and U.K. air forces in
armor-piercing weapons. It was heavily used in the
Persian Gulf and, to a smaller extent, in the Balkans.
Although less radioactive than enriched uranium,
depleted uranium is a heavy metal suspected of causing
birth defects and cancer if inhaled or ingested,
particularly if it enters the food chain or
contaminates water.
Serbia's authorities have previously cleaned up two
similar locations in southern Serbia following
recommendations by United Nations experts, who
analyzed samples of water and soil from the targeted
areas.
The ministry said one more site remains to be cleaned
up next year.
Experiences from modern wars
Consequences of NATO agression against Yugoslavia
Effects on the health of the population in Yugoslavia due to the use
of armements with depleted uranium (DU)
Agression against Yugoslavia
Biological and chemical weapons used by NATO in 1999.
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