***************************************************************** 01/06/01 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 9.5 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER CONTENTS 1 Nuclear waste request dumped for 2001 2 Seawater Desalination by Using Nuclear Power 3 Three Arrested for Stealing Radioactive Metals in Chernobyl 4 N.Y. Nuclear Plant Restart Violates Regulations 5 GAO: Nuke Plan Needs Overhaul 6 Chernobyl horror comes to Wheeling NUCLEAR WEAPONS CONTENTS 1 Putin Dismisses Deploying Nukes 2 welcome to Korea Herald!!_National 3 Britain Says Fired Uranium Shells at Test Ranges 4 WHO Finds No Increase in Kosovo Leukemia - U.N. 5 Balkan syndrome probe begins 6 Conflicting research on radiation in Kosovo 7 Deadly rain that fell on a poisoned land 8 Scientists doubt uranium- cancer link 9 Guterres calls for Balkans uranium probe 10 DOE pick gets letter on cleanup from Doc 11 Experts dismiss tests for health damage 12 UN Environmental Program head urges uranium sites in Kosovo be 13 Radiation found at Kosovo bomb sites - 14 MoD knew of ammo risks for 10 years 15 Gulf war veterans renew call for inquiry 16 Cheap, plentiful and toxic 17 'My hair fell out and my teeth began to rot' 18 'I was in pain but they couldn't find anything wrong' 19 No uranium tests for UK troops 20 FFTF backers gather for Richland rally 21 Depleted uranium: EU concern grows 22 Mass testing for Balkans syndrome 23 EU Backs Prodi Over 'Balkan Syndrome' Warning 24 Egypt terms use of nuclear weapons as war crime 25 K-25 cleanup stalled by DOE budget issues 26 Westinghouse renews deal 27 Measure would tame firing nukes from American soil **************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR POWER ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Nuclear waste request dumped for 2001 Saturday, January 06, 2001 Envirocare warns that 'hot' waste decision comes at a hefty cost COPYRIGHT 2000 DESERET NEWS BY JERRY D. SPANGLER Deseret News staff writer Low-level radioactive waste giant Envirocare of Utah has dropped all efforts to seek legislative approval this year for its application to store radioactive wastes about 70 times hotter than what it is currently licensed to accept. But the decision, reached Friday, could come with a cost, Envirocare President Charles Judd warned. "There are real costs and risks associated with this decision," Judd told the Deseret News. "Envirocare's current business is due to peak very soon, and if some alternative waste streams cannot be identified and brought on line, more than 400 jobs will be at risk, and millions of dollars of revenue for Tooele County and the state could be lost." Judd said the company is not dropping its license application altogether, and public hearings scheduled next month on the proposal will continue. But the company is weighing its options as to how and when to pursue approval from the governor and the Legislature - a condition mandated by state law. Judd insisted the company is moving forward and could seek legislative approval during the 2002 session. The company does not want to risk a special legislative session later in the year to deal with the issue. "It's never really been an option for us, and we are not pursuing it at this point," he said. Because of a declining volume of existing Class A wastes, primarily contaminated soils from uranium mills and defense sites, the company will begin laying off workers and putting projects on hold, Judd said. The amount of Class A wastes being shipped to Envirocare dropped by 20 percent last year over the previous year, and company officials expect the waste will run out altogether in the next few years. Envirocare had looked to Class B and C wastes - primarily low-level radioactive wastes from hospitals, decommissioned nuclear power plants and research laboratories - as a replacement. But that won't happen at least until next year, and Judd said the delay could mean Envirocare will lose out to a Texas rival that is pushing ahead with efforts to store Class B and C wastes there. The Texas Legislature, which meets until the summer, has a greater time frame to act than does the Utah Legislature, and that could tip the balance away from Envirocare. In the end, the decision not to seek approval bssaid, had more to do with timing than it did with the growing public sentiment against the proposal (a recent Deseret News/KSL-TV poll showed more than 80 percent of Utahns are opposed to Envirocare's plans). Envirocare has already jumped through a litany of regulatory hoops. The company has obtained approval of the Tooele County Commission, and it completed all the technical aspects of its license application. And Bill Sinclair, director of the Division of Radiation Control, recently gave his tentative approval. But the required public hearing process won't be completed until March 2, two days after the conclusion of the 2001 Legislature. And then there is another 30-day appeal period. Envirocare believed the legislative debate could occur simultaneously with the public hearings, arguing the public hearings were about the technical aspects of the license while the legislative debate was about a policy decision on whether the state wanted to accept the waste. "However, many who support us in the Legislature are uncomfortable with going ahead prior to the application process being completed," Judd said. "So in deference to them we have decided to delay the policy decision until a later date." The decision came one day after more than 100 people packed a public hearing on one aspect of Envirocare's application, and most of those who testified did not take kindly to Envirocare's proposal. "The Radiation Control Board got a loud and clear message," said Chip Ward, a Tooele County environmental activist. And that message was the public wants to be heard on the matter before any decisions are reached. Ward believes an unrelated debate on a proposal by mostly Eastern utility companies to store high-level nuclear waste on nearby Goshute tribal lands has made Utahns more aware than ever just how much Tooele County has been dumped on over the years. While most Utahns may not understand the differences between high-level waste and the low-level wastes at Envirocare, they do understand the West Desert has become a dump. "And we're not going to be the magnet anymore, " he said. Judd agreed there is confusion in the public's mind about the two different proposals, but he said it is unfair to lump Envirocare into the same waste mix as spent nuclear fuel rods. High-level waste, he said, is millions of times hotter than the wastes that Envirocare now accepts or would accept if allowed to take Class B and C wastes. "We had hoped it would happen this year, but it is not, and there are going to be some financial struggles," Judd said. E-MAIL: [*]spang@desnews.com [I] [I] [I] [I] ***************************************************************** 2 Seawater Desalination by Using Nuclear Power Friday, January 05, 2001, updated at 19:50(GMT+8) A new project to remove the salt from seawater by using nuclear power, which could help solve China's deficiency in water resources, is Review. The project is being jointly undertaken by scientists at the China Society of Nuclear Science and the Beijing Institute of Nuclear Engineer(BINE£©. Research into seawater desalination began as early as the 1960s. To date, 11 seawater desalination plants using nuclear energy are in operation around the world. However, the small scale and high costs of seawater desalination of four to eight yuan per ton is too expensive for China. The initiator of China's seawater desalination project is Li Zhaoheng, a nuclear expert who majored in nuclear technology during the 1950s at the Moscow Dynamics Institution. He participated in or led reactor projects. Seawater desalination technology has a long history, Li explains. Currently, the Middle East produces about 60 percent of the world 's desalinated seawater, with distilled petroleum as the heat source. The nuclear reactor is the heat source when nuclear energy is used to desalinate seawater. The nuclear desalination research team, headed by Li, in light of the natural conditions of China, developed three different models for seawater desalination, 300 million tons, 600 million tons and 1 billion tons respectively. On such a grand scale, nuclear power is the most economical and cleanest source of heat for seawater desalination. One important index among the many determining the cost of seawater desalination is the proportion of desalination, which refers to the amount of desalinated water obtained when consuming one kg of steam. It represents the energy used during the course of desalinating seawater. To acquire the same amount of desalinated water, the higher the proportion, the less energy is consumed, and the lower the cost. Two of the latest distillation techniques, which lead the desalination proportion 2.5 times higher than traditional ways, were developed by Chinese scientists and have been adopted for the project. The most prominent aspect of the project is its scale. Large seawater desalination plants are not needed in some foreign countries where populations are small, but in China, severe water shortages call for desalination of seawater on a large scale. In Li's project, the cost of desalinated seawater will be cut to about 1 yuan per ton because of its large scale. "Such a large desalination plant needs an investment of several billion yuan, which is reasonable for building infrastructure, " Li notes, "It is also the most economical method among other ones in this regard." The Project to Divert Water from the South to the North, which is now under debate, requires a 100 billion yuan investment, says Zhang Guoliang, President of the Administration of the Project to Divert Water from the South to the North of the Ministry of Water Resources. Water diverted from the Yangtze River to Beijing will cost 20 yuan per ton when the projects are completed, he adds. Comparatively, the desalination project costs less. So the government or commercial organizations that engage in the project could profit considerably, Li points out. "Desalinated seawater is as pure as purified water sold on the market, " Li says. "A small amount of seawater would be added to meet the mineral needs of the human body. After high-temperature treatment, the water is purified, its salt content even lower than that in the piped water we drink now." Then is the operation safe£¿ Zhang Jingwu, a senior engineer from BINE, says the project now under discussion will adopt a low-temperature heating reactor, which has a perfectly safe protection system. It is easier to use and much safer, he adds. In 1993, the International Atomic Energy Agency concluded that using nuclear energy to desalinate seawater could be carried out safely and reliably, without any technical obstacles. At a public symposium on nuclear energy in Beijing, scientists pointed out that nuclear power is a clean, safe and reliable form of energy. "Humankind will eventually demand drinking water from the ocean, " said a senior official from the Ministry of Water Resources. Once the seawater desalination project, being explored by Chinese scientists, is adopted by the Government, it will signal China 's success in this new field of peaceful use of nuclear power. Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved ***************************************************************** 3 Three Arrested for Stealing Radioactive Metals in Chernobyl KIEV, Jan 6, 2001--(Agence France Presse) Three men were arrested after attempting to steal radioactive metals from a restricted zone of the Chernobyl nuclear plant, Ukranian police said Friday. The three men stole the metal from an impounded train that had served in clean-up operations following the April 1986 disaster that followed an explosion in Chernobyl's fourth reactor. Police said the metals contained radioactive levels far in excess of safety norms. The burglars hoped to sell the materials for around 2,200 dollars (2,300 euros) to rail firms. They face up to five years in jail for possession of radioactive materials, police said. ((C) 2001 AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE) ***************************************************************** 4 N.Y. Nuclear Plant Restart Violates Regulations JAN. 4, 2001 ALLOWS REACTOR TO RESTART WITHOUT EMERGENCY PLANNING DRILL WASHINGTON, D.C. - Consolidated Edison this week restarted the Indian Point 2 nuclear plant in New York in violation of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations requiring the company to conduct a biennial emergency drill. Emergency preparedness is particularly important at Indian Point 2, located 24 miles north of New York City, because it has the highest population within 10, 30 and 50 miles of any nuclear power plant in the U.S. At 50 miles, its population is more than double any other nuclear reactor in the country. Further, in a February 2000 accident, a steam generator tube burst, releasing radiation into the environment and leading to the reactor's shutdown for the rest of the year. "The NRC's priorities are misplaced," said Wenonah Hauter, director of Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "The restart of Indian Point 2 proves that the NRC treats emergency planning as secondary in importance to electricity production." In the required emergency drill, plant workers must go through the steps they would take to evacuate nearby towns in the event of a uclear accident. The last time such a drill was performed at Indian Point 2 was June 1998. NRC regulations require such drills to be done every two years. In the wake of the February accident, Public Citizen petitioned the NRC to prohibit the restart of the nuclear reactor until Consolidated Edison, the reactor's owner and operator, successfully completed the emergency exercise. The NRC denied the petition, stating that "the licensee will remain in compliance with the biennial requirement until December 31, 2000. . . . Since the licensee plans to restart before December 31, 2000, an emergency preparedness exercise is not required prior to restart of IP2." "Consolidated Edison has repeatedly bungled emergency planning at Indian Point, and the NRC has done nothing about it," said James Riccio, senior policy analyst for Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program. "The NRC ignored its own regulations and allowed the reactor to resume operations this week without showing that the public will be protected in the event of another accident." ***************************************************************** 5 GAO: Nuke Plan Needs Overhaul ÿÿÿ Friday, January 5, 2001 Albuquerque Journal--> BY JENNIFER MCKEE Journal Staff Writer Management malfunctions and blunder-filled budgets within the Department of Energy plague the country's nuclear weapons stockpile, according to a federal report released Thursday. The report, conducted by the General Accounting Office at the request of the congressional Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, examined the department's Stockpile Stewardship Program - the eight-year-old policy of maintaining aging nuclear weapons as opposed to building and testing new ones. The report examined planning, budgets and management of the program and concluded that all are in need of overhaul. "Several studies have found that the Office of Defense Programs (within the DOE) has a dysfunctional organization with unclear lines of authority that lead to a lack of accountability, " the report reads. "The program remains fragmented at the headquarters level and the division of roles and responsibilities between headquarters and the field is unclear." The department's Office of Defense Programs oversees the nation's nuclear weapons complex, including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque. Management of part of the complex is divided into eight private contractors, including, for example, the University of California which manages Los Alamos. But those contractors don't all answer to the same DOE higher-ups. When auditors checked in October, for example, three of the contractors reported to DOE offices other than the Office of Defense Programs. In addition, the report found, almost 65 percent of management jobs are vacant within the Office of Defense Programs - a situation that has sidelined needed decisions on stockpile stewardship for years. The department also has numerous field offices, including a large one in Albuquerque. But just which offices, among the nest of authority in the complex, control what is unclear. "One key problem ... is the existence of 'two headquarters,' '' the report reads. "One in the Office of Defense Programs (in Washington, D.C.) and one in the Albuquerque Operations Office. This situation exists because clearly defined roles and responsibilities are lacking." The report goes on to say that "officials in both offices noted uncertainty about what managers are authorized to do." Illustrating the confusion, the Office of Defense Programs has developed more than 70 different plans for the Stockpile Stewardship Program, according to the report, but not a single one is complete. The report offered the first test of the Stockpile Stewardship Program - the redevelopment of the W87 warhead - as proof of the department's overall confusion. The project took two years longer than expected and ran $300 million over budget. In addition, the report said, the Office of Defense Programs and the DOE facilities presumably under it have not always budgeted their money in the same way, creating even more confusion. The office's current budget scheme doesn't make clear distinctions between the overhead of running a weapons lab and the cost of specific weapons lab projects. Consequently, the report said, DOE officials can't tell how much money would be saved by scrapping projects nor can they zero in on specific cost-cutting measures within a project. None of this comes as any surprise to local nuclear activists. Greg Mello, of the Los Alamos Study Group in Santa Fe, called the weapons labs "a fiscal black hole" in an interview Thursday. "There's the run-of-the-mill fraud and abuse in government, but this management problem is truly dangerous," he said. "It means the nation's nuclear weapons complex is actually being run by the contractors who have a financial interest in the decisions being made. It's truly not accountable to anyone." Madelyn Creedon, deputy administrator for the department's Office of Defense Programs, sent a letter to the author of the report in November, two weeks after it was released to certain people within the DOE. Creedon called the report "accurate and balanced, " but pointed out that despite its problems, the Stockpile Stewardship Program has passed official muster four years in a row. The secretaries of Energy and Defense, who annually report to the president on the program, told President Clinton last April that the "stockpile has no safety or reliability concerns," according to Creedon's letter. Copyright 2001 Albuquerque Journal ***************************************************************** 6 Chernobyl horror comes to Wheeling SATURDAY JANUARY 06 08:40 AM EST By Fred Woodhams Daily Herald Staff Writer Very much the product of a 12-year-old, Serguei Krutko's painting, with its broad, unsteady strokes - almost as if finger-painted - features a large yellow sun above an industrial site. Titled, "The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station," it depicts the cause of the Belorussian youth's eventual death. Beside it hangs a more finely painted picture by 14-year-old Elena Antonyuk, titled "We Are Still Living in the Affected Zone." The painting is of two women caring for a man lying in bed. Part of the touring exhibition "The Children of Chernobyl," the two works hang in the Indian Trails Library, 355 S. Schoenbeck Road in Wheeling, with about 45 other pieces created by children sickened by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Most, if not all, of the children whose pieces hang in the library have died from excessive radiation and nuclear poisoning after making the works in 1995 or 1996. The exhibition, started by The Chicago Athenaeum, has toured throughout the United States and internationally. Library and museum employees Friday set up the works, which will be displayed until the end of February. The children whose work makes up the exhibit had lived in what is called the "Chernobyl Exclusion Zone" - the area where radioactivity rained down on millions of people after the nuclear power facility's No. 4 reactor exploded and released radiation 200 times more lethal than that at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "I've dubbed the whole place the 'Zone of Sorrow,'" said Christian Narkiewicz-Laine, the Athenaeum's director, who has visited the zone twice. "It's like looking into St. John's apocalypse." More than 2.2 million Belorussians - including more than 800,000 children - were exposed. Forty thousand children have died already. The exhibit was the idea of Narkiewicz-Laine's mother, Charlotte, who was in the former Soviet Union looking for lost family members. "What she found were thousands and thousands of people who were being displaced," Narkiewicz-Laine said. "Then she started to find all these medical centers for testing children." Charlotte Narkiewicz-Laine, who worked for the museum but is now deceased, thought the exhibition would increase awareness of the plight of the people who live in the exclusion zone. She started a foundation that has brought toys, clothes and art and medical supplies. However, because of the political situation in Belarus, the work had stopped for the past two years. It just now has restarted. The museum, which has sites in Chicago and Schaumburg, waved the fees for the exhibition as part of a new push to be more active in Chicago area communities, said Kristin Kaufman, the museum's director of education, who hung the pictures Friday. Chris Reading, the library's head of outreach, said she was looking for a high-quality exhibit like the one it had two years ago from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. From previous dealings with the Athenaeum, she learned of the exhibit. "We do hope to have schoolchildren come in and see the art works, " she said. The exhibit can be seen during normal library hours, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. Call (847) 459-4100 for more information. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARTICLES ***************************************************************** 1 Putin Dismisses Deploying Nukes January 06, 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS MOSCOW (AP)--President Vladimir Putin on Saturday dismissed reports that Russia may have deployed nuclear weapons in a Russian enclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, news media said. The reports first appeared in The Washington Times on Wednesday. Later, senior U.S. administration officials told The Associated Press there had been indications of possible nuclear weapons movement to a naval base in Kaliningrad, the home of Russia's Baltic Fleet. "It's rubbish," Putin was quoted as saying in response to a question on the reports posed by a German journalist as he accompanied German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on a walk through Red Square. Also Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said on state-run RTR television that "there were no such weapons at naval facilities, including naval, ground and air force ones, and no such weapons have been delivered there." Some observers have suggested that deploying nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad would be a tactic for NATO to withdraw all nuclear weapons from Europe. Poland joined the Western alliance in 1999 and Lithuania, like the other former Soviet Baltic republics Latvia and Estonia, is eager to join. Russia has opposed NATO's expansion and objected bitterly to the possibility of the Baltic states joining. ALL CONTENTS COPYRIGHT 2001 LAS VEGAS SUN, INC. ***************************************************************** 2 welcome to Korea Herald!!_National Denuclearization of Korean Peninsula, U.S. troop pullout top inter- Korean proposals  [*][I] Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and withdrawal of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) are the two proposals most frequently raised by South and North Korea concerning the control and reduction of arms since the nation was divided in 1948, a study said yesterday. The study released recently by the Sejong Institute showed that South Korea made proposals to North Korea to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, and for bilateral inspections of nuclear plants on 80 occasions through official and unofficial channels since 1948. It said North Korea, during the same period, made 120 proposals for a USFK pullout. The study titled "Ways to Implement Military Confidence-Building and Tension-Reduction between South and North Korea" was directed by Song Dae-sung, a senior research fellow of the Sejong Institute, a research organization focusing on national security and diplomacy. The report said South Korea has proposed military confidence-building measures on 42 occasions, suggested ways to ease tension on the Korean Peninsula 40 times and proposed signing a non-aggression pacts 35 times. On 40 occasions, the North suggested the two sides sign a peace treaty and suspend Team Spirit exercises, an annual South Korea-U.S. military drill now suspended, it said. Since 1948, North Korea also proposed a denuclearization of the Peninsula 37 times. "Despite those proposals, the two Koreas have failed to achieve any tangible results on arms control and reduction as there have been no military trust between the two Koreas," said Song. To attain mutual military trust, he said North Korea should abandon its key policy of communizing the South, while the South should drop its intention to unify Korea by absorbing the North. (KSJ) ***************************************************************** 3 Britain Says Fired Uranium Shells at Test Ranges SATURDAY JANUARY 6 8:28 PM ET By Dominic Evans LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Sunday its troops had fired depleted uranium at test ranges in the north of the country over the last 10 years but said the shells posed no serious threat to people's health. A British Defense Ministry spokeswoman said tests of the ammunition, which some Gulf War and Balkans veterans blame for unexplained cases of cancer and other ailments, had been monitored by environmental and military experts. ``Analysis of published results shows the firings do not pose a significant risk to marine life, members of the public or site personnel,'' the spokeswoman said of the tests carried out at one site on the Solway Firth channel between north-west England and southern Scotland. The use of depleted uranium (DU) in Kosovo and Bosnia has triggered members after claims that it may be linked to death or illness among Balkan peacekeepers, a condition dubbed ``Balkans Syndrome.'' The condition came under the spotlight after reports that six Italian soldiers who served in the former Yugoslavia had developed leukemia and died after exposure to spent ammunition. A number of European allies called for an investigation after other cases of cancer appeared. sites) said it found evidence of radioactivity at eight of 11 sites tested in Kosovo after they were struck by DU-tipped NATO ammunition during 1999 bombings. British defense officials have resisted calls to screen troops returning from the Balkans for DU exposure. ``At the moment we are confident in our position that there is no significant risk to our personnel, '' the ministry said. ISSUE FOR CIVILIANS But the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, which reported the British DU testing, quoted campaigners as saying ordinary Britons should now be concerned. ``Depleted uranium is not just an issue for servicemen, it is an issue for civilians as well. It is being tested virtually on people's doorsteps,'' Terry Gooding, spokesman for the National Gulf War Veterans Association, told the newspaper. The Sunday Telegraph said 1,421 DU shells had been fired into the Solway Firth since 1995. ``It would be wrong to continue using them in Britain until we are sure they are safe,'' former defense minister Peter Kilfoyle, who Labor government last year, was quoted as saying. Depleted uranium is used in the tips of shells and bullets to increase their ability to penetrate armor and can be pulverized on impact into a toxic radioactive dust. U.S. attack jets fired some 31,000 DU rounds against Serbian targets during NATO's 1991 campaign to drive the Yugoslav army out of Kosovo. Some 10,000 rounds were also fired in neighboring Bosnia in 1994- 5. But NATO dismisses any link to illnesses, saying that the threat from depleted uranium is negligible. Reuters ***************************************************************** 4 WHO Finds No Increase in Kosovo Leukemia - U.N. SATURDAY JANUARY 6 10:25 AM ET Radiation Found At Yugoslavia Bombing Sites (REUTERS) By Beth Potter PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (Reuters) - World Health Organization ([*]news leukemia cases in Kosovo after talking to doctors about possible ``Balkans syndrome,'' a U.N. spokeswoman said on Saturday. But WHO stressed the findings were not part of a scientific survey. Officials had simply asked doctors to provide information about leukemia spokeswoman Susan Manuel told Reuters. ``The initial survey showed the incidence of leukemia in Kosovo has not increased, in fact there was a slight decrease in leukemia in the year 2000 as compared with 1997 and 1998,'' a U.N. statement said. ``After consultations with nuclear and health experts, international health professionals in Kosovo determined the potential public health hazards related to depleted uranium exposure were not high. ``They decided to devote their major efforts to rebuilding the Kosovo health system, launching a vaccination program and implementing other urgently-needed public health projects,'' it said. Manuel said the assessment would continue over the next week. from several European countries over claims depleted uranium used in its weapons had caused death or illness among Balkan peacekeepers -- the so-called ``Balkan Syndrome.'' The statement said the WHO and U.N Mission in Kosovo had been aware of depleted uranium in Kosovo since NATO's bombing campaign last year, aimed at halting the repression by Serbian security forces of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority. International peacekeepers were deployed in the province after Serbian forces withdrew. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) says the ammunition, which it also used in bombing campaigns against Serb forces in Bosnia in 1994-5, posed a ``negligible hazard.'' sites) President Romano Prodi have demanded more details. Moderate Kosovo leader Ibrahim Rugova said on Friday he feared the row over alleged ``Balkan Syndrome'' could put pressure on international peacekeeping troops to withdraw from the province. reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is ***************************************************************** 5 Balkan syndrome probe begins BBC News | EUROPE | Sunday, 7 January, 2001, 16:54 GMT BALKAN SYNDROME PROBE BEGINS [I] A Portuguese team is conducting the investigation Ascientific team from Portugal has begun examining sites in Kosovo, where Nato's use of bombs containing depleted uranium is alleged to have caused contamination and led to illness and deaths among soldiers serving there. Concern has grown in the past week among European countries whose soldiers have served in the Balkans. [I] The weaponry at the centre of the controversy Sixteen former peacekeepers from six different countries have already died of leukemia, in what has become known as Balkan war syndrome. This has been blamed on the depleted uranium (DU) used in the manufacture of Nato missiles - but Nato itself insists there is no risk of contamination. PRESSURE ON NATO The four-strong team visited the Klina area, in western Kosovo - where Portuguese peacekeepers operate - measuring radioactivity and taking soil samples. The investigation comes as pressure grows on Nato from European governments over the use of depleted uranium during the conflicts in Bosnia Hercegovina and Kosovo. You cannot totally exclude the possibility that people can sometimes suffer serious health effects from this type of ammunition [I] Head of UN mission, Pekka Haavisto DU is used in the core of missiles, as this makes them better able to penetrate armoured vehicles. The Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Guterres, said on Saturday he could no longer "be completely confident" in Nato assurances, while Poland has announced plans to carry out medical tests to all its soldiers in Kosovo. Reports from Spain say at least eight cases of cancer have been reported among Spanish personnel deployed in Kosovo and Bosnia Hercegovina. The European Union's political and security committee is expected to debate the issue in Brussels on Tuesday. On Friday, Portugal began tests on 10,000 soldiers and civilians who have served in the Balkans. Poland has announced that more than 600 of its troops in Kosovo will undergo tests, which will involve taking samples from blood and hair as well as from water and soil where troops are stationed. The British Government is resisting calls to carry out similar tests. Scientists who visited 11 out of 112 sites in Kosovo bombed by Nato said on Friday they had found either remnants of depleted uranium or evidence of increased radioactivity around the impact points left by the raids. But the World Health Organisation (WHO) says it has found no evidence of increased leukaemia in Kosovo since the 1998 bombardment. ***************************************************************** 6 Conflicting research on radiation in Kosovo CNN.com - - January 6, 2001 UNITED NATIONS--Evidence of radioactivity at eight Kosovo sites bombed with NATO depleted nuclear ammunition has been found by a United Nations' team. The results from 11 tests released on Friday in a preliminary report for the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) add weight to concerns that the NATO weapons could have caused illness among peacekeeping troops. NATO has come under pressure from several European governments over so-called "Balkans Syndrome" after six Italian soldiers who served in Kosovo and Bosnia died of leukaemia. A separate survey carried out by an Italian military watchdog, the National Observatory for the Protection of Military Personnel, revealed on Saturday that its research had found a link between the use of depleted uranium and the death of its six soldiers. Sergeant Domenico Leggiero, head of the military interest group, was quoted as saying by AGI news agency that the deaths could be "officially linked to the Balkan situation." Two other deaths were being investigated, he added. NATO said Italian requests for information on the situation would be examined by the North Atlantic Council next Tuesday. But a U.N. spokeswoman said on Saturday that World Health Organisation (WHO) officials had said they had found no increase in leukaemia cases in Kosovo after talking to doctors about possible "Balkans Syndrome." The findings were not part of a scientific survey, relying on officials asking doctors to provide information about leukaemia cases from 1997 to 2000. U.N. spokeswoman Susan Manuel said: "After consultations with nuclear and health experts, international health professionals in Kosovo determined the potential public health hazards related to depleted uranium exposure were not high." The U.S. Defense Department said it had no plans to suspend use of the tank-piercing shells but would co-operate with any NATO study into mystery illnesses. The discovery of radioactivity at the sites tested by the U.N. was the first results of testing still underway at laboratories in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Britain and Austria by UNEP. "The final results will only be known when the UNEP report is published in 2001, but there is enough preliminary evidence to call for precautions when dealing with used depleted uranium or with sites where such ammunition might be present," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. A U.N. report in May had warned that much of Kosovo's water could be so contaminated as to be unfit to drink, and that a clean-up of the province could cost billions of dollars. It warned U.N. staff not to approach any target that might have been hit by a depleted uranium weapon. The 11 sites tested by the UNEP team were among 112 in Kosovo hit by weapons containing depleted uranium according to a NATO map. The UNEP report also recommended that health checks be carried out on residents of the immediate area. Chorus of concern Russia added its voice to a growing chorus of European concern over the weapons, which includes France, Italy, Norway, Germany, Portugal and Greece, saying it was in favour of international investigations into the issue. Moscow has sent 3,000 peacekeepers to Kosovo but fiercely opposed NATO's 1999 bombing campaign to drive Serb forces out of Kosovo. Russian peacekeepers are also deployed in Bosnia, where U.S. warplanes used depleted uranium weapons against Serbian armour in the mid-1990s. Italian Under Secretary of Defence Marco Minniti with a NATO commander during a tour of Kosovo to reassure troops France confirmed on Thursday that four of its soldiers had contracted leukaemia after working in the Balkans. In Athens, about 500 protesters marched to demand the return of Greek troops from Bosnia and Kosovo due to the health concerns. Britain said it had no evidence NATO's use of the munitions adversely affected British peacekeepers in the Balkans and had no plans to screen soldiers who served in Kosovo and Bosnia. Turkey and Yugoslavia found no cases of radiation exposure among their troops, and the International Committee of the Red Cross disclosed that tests on over 30 staff deployed during the 1999 Kosovo war showed no traces of depleted uranium. U.S. attack jets fired some 31,000 rounds of depleted uranium ammunition against Serbian targets during NATO's 1999 campaign to drive the Yugoslav army out of Kosovo. Some 10,000 rounds were also fired in neighbouring Bosnia in 1994- January 5, 2001 January 4, 2001 January 4, 2001 January 3, 2001 December 30, 2000 c 2001 CABLE NEWS NETWORK. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 7 Deadly rain that fell on a poisoned land The Scotsman Online - Christian Jennings IN APRIL 1999, at the height of NATO’s bombing campaign against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic’s Yugoslavia, American A-10 Warthog tankbusting aircraft were attacking Serb tanks and armoured vehicles from the skies over Kosovo. The main armament on the A-10s were their 37mm Gatling guns, mounted in the nose of the aircraft, capable of firing up to 6,000 rounds of armour-piercing ammunition per minute. In between raids, the aircraft would return to NATO airbases in southern Italy, where they sat on the tarmac, guzzling in belts of 37mm ammunition from electronic hoppers, painted by the flight-crews with such slogans as: "Feeding the Hog." Twenty months later, this ammunition, tipped with depleted uranium, is returning to haunt NATO. Around 42,000 rounds of aircraft cannon ammunition containing depleted uranium were fired over Bosnia and Kosovo. A United Nations Environmental Programme investigation into the use and effects of DU in Kosovo in November last year examined 11 out of 112 sites where the rounds are thought to have impacted. An expert team of Russians, British, American, Swedish and Canadian scientists, paid for by the Swiss government, announced after two weeks in Kosovo examining DU residue that there was a very minor risk from depleted uranium in the breakaway Yugoslavian province. "We went out on to the sites, we milked cows, we picked mushrooms, we examined the soil, we tested the grass," said Pekka Haavisto, the team spokesman. "Eighteen months after the conflict there was a little bit higher than normal radiation at some of these sites. "There is less risk from depleted uranium here, even if you put it under your pillow, than going to the dentist and having an x-ray, " commented Mr Haavisto. Health Ministry officials in Kosovo have reported no recorded levels of increase in leukaemia or cancers that may have been caused by contact with radioactive debris. UN and NATO officials in Kosovo were quick to play down the dangers of DU debris, adding that many other factors provided "significantly greater" danger to the well-being of NATO troops in Kosovo. For NATO, these include road-accidents, armed violence, landmines and unexploded aerial ordnance, weapons accidents and suicides. Primary dangers to the health and well-being of Kosovo’s civilian population, say UN and humanitarian sources, include appalling road safety, massive levels of criminal and ethnic violence, lack of health- care, extremely high incidences of diabetes, liver and lung disease, poor diet, as well as land-mines and cluster-bombs. In the northern Kosovan town of Mitrovica, say NATO and the UN, a lead smelter in the town of Zvecan was closed down in a joint NATO and UN operation after World Health Organisation and French government experts revealed that its levels of lead emissions exceeded 200 times the acceptable World Health Organisation levels. Both French and Belgian peacekeepers returning from duty in the north of Kosovo have been advised against conceiving children less than six months after returning home. ***************************************************************** 8 Scientists doubt uranium- cancer link 7 January 2001 : LONDON: While European governments scramble to screen soldiers who may have been exposed to depleted uranium in the Balkans, many medical experts are skeptical that it caused cancer and other illnesses reported by veterans. A heavy metal with low levels of radioactivity, depleted uranium is used in ammunition to penetrate tanks and other armor. Some scientists believe the dust created when rounds hit targets may be harmful, but studies of Gulf War troops have found no proof it caused diseases. Some experts say the health screenings are little more than a political strategy to head off accusations that governments are covering up ill health effects, as is alleged by some Gulf War veterans with unexplained illnesses. "Depleted uranium vaporises instantly. You would have to be very close to a damaged tank and be there within seconds of it being hit, " said Yan Grosse, a toxicologist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organisation. "These soldiers were very unlikely to have been exposed." But Roger William Coghill, a British radiation researcher, argued that depleted uranium first used in ammunition during the Gulf War could be the cause of illnesses reported by soldiers who served in the Balkans. Not all the depleted uranium vaporises immediately and radioactive derivatives can linger in the air for months, he said. "Just one particle in the lungs is enough," Coghill said, adding a single particle could travel to the lymph nodes, where the radioactivity would lower the body's defences against lymphomas and leukemia. "There's still a lot of science to be found out, but I can't believe you can dismiss the link out of hand," he said. The controversy in Europe over NATO's use of depleted uranium in Bosnia in 1994-95 and later in Kosovo flared in December after Italy's Defence Minister Sergio Mattarella announced an investigation of 30 cases of illness involving soldiers who served in the region, 12 of whom developed cancer. Five have died of leukemia. Spain, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Belgium, Turkey, Russia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic and the European Union have also said they would screen troops and check radiation levels where their peace keepers are serving. The Pentagon said this week that regular health checks have revealed no problems with leukemia and other illnesses among US troops who served in the Balkans. A United Nations investigative team went to the region in November and is expected to publish its report next month. Uranium occurs naturally in soil, water and air, and humans normally pick up trace amounts from food and water. Depleted uranium carries two threats radiation and chemical poisoning. The main threat comes from inhaling the dust or ingesting it, experts say. Radiation can cause leukemia, and other cancers, while metal poisoning can lead to kidney damage, experts said. The five leukemia deaths among the 60,000 Italian soldiers equates to a rate of 8 per 100,000. The Italian government has not revealed whether any of the seven other cancer cases are leukemia. According to the World Health Organisation, the normal leukemia incidence for Italian men is 13 per 100,000. "The scientific consensus for depleted uranium is that if you ingested or inhaled the dust, you would see kidney damage before you'd see leukemia," said Michael Clark, science spokesman for the British National Radiological Protection Board. "I can understand the connection they are trying to make with the war and it needs to be looked at, but to instinctively blame it on depleted uranium? You have to be very skeptical of that." Depleted uranium, the spent fuel of nuclear reactors, is 40 per cent less radioactive than uranium in its natural state. Robert Haley, an epidemiologist at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Centre who researches Gulf War Syndrome, doubts there is enough radiation in depleted uranium to cause radiation-related diseases. One reason depleted uranium is not a likely suspect is because it does't emit gamma rays the most dangerous type, Haley said. It mostly emits alpha radiation, the least powerful, which reaches about an inch from the source. "In the Balkan case, you don't expect to see leukemia, and certainly not this early," Haley said. "If anything, you'd expect to see lung cancer from the inhaled particles, but not for another 20 years." Haley accused European governments of conducting the screenings for political reasons. "Everybody has learned from the Gulf War and what happened with the veterans and the accusations of a cover-up. They've learned that you better take it seriously and act early," Haley said. The few studies on depleted uranium relate to the Gulf War. The US Defence Department says approximately 90,000 American troops who served in the Gulf War complain of ailments such as fatigue, rashes, headaches, muscle and joint pain. A report in April by the US General Accounting Office, which reviewed the medical evidence, concluded that inhaling or ingesting depleted uranium was unlikely to cause radiation sickness or cancer. (AP) ***************************************************************** 9 Guterres calls for Balkans uranium probe 7 January 2001 : LISBON: Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres said on Friday that NATO assurances about the safety of depleted uranium-tipped ammunition used during the alliance's Balkans campaigns were not enough and a full probe was needed. "We want the whole truth to be known. This is something that must also be done at an international level," the Lusa news agency quoted him as saying in the southern town of Setubal. "The moment has come for us to stop trusting entirely in others, as we had been doing quite legitimately up to now," he added in reference to NATO assurances that alliance personnel and troops in the Balkans were in no danger from contamination. Portugal has started medical testing of its civilian personnel and troops that were stationed in the area and is also sending a team of scientists to Kosovo to test uranium levels in areas where its soldiers are still based. Fears of a so-called "Balkan Syndrome" have surged with reports of cancer amongst soldiers from a number of European countries that sent forces to Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, where NATO used special armour-piercing munitions containing depleted uranium. On Friday night, Portugal's TVI television interviewed a former soldier who said that he had been diagnosed as suffering from leukemia, the same disease that killed six Italian former peacekeepers. The ex-soldier, Rui Miguel Alpanhao, said the illness had been detected last October approximately a year after he returned from the Balkans. One Portuguese soldier has already died of brain disease in a case that has been linked in the press to his tour of duty in Kosovo, although the armed forces say there is no evidence of a connection. Other countries, including Italy, have also called for an investigation into the possibility that NATO personnel may have been exposed to lethal levels of uranium. Earlier, the United Nations announced in New York it had found evidence of radioactivity at eight of 11 sites tested in Kosovo after they were struck by NATO ammunition with depleted uranium during 1999 bombings. The discovery of radioactivity at the sites was a preliminary finding of testing still under way at laboratories in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Britain and Austria by the UN Environmental Program (UNEP), a UN spokesman said. Although final results would only be known later in the year, there was preliminary evidence "to call for precautions when dealing with used depleted uranium or with sites where such ammunition might be present," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. US attack jets fired some 31,000 rounds of depleted uranium ammunition against Serbian targets during NATO's 1999 campaign to drive the Yugoslav army out of Kosovo. Some 10,000 rounds were also fired in neighbouring Bosnia in 1994-5. But NATO dismisses any link to illnesses, saying that the threat from the depleted uranium posed a "negligible hazard".(Reuters) ***************************************************************** 10 DOE pick gets letter on cleanup from Doc Jan. 5, 2001: BY JOHN STANG HERALD STAFF WRITER Energy Secretary nominee Spencer Abraham is getting his first nudge for more Hanford cleanup money. U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash., and five other congressmen, all from districts with contaminated Department of Energy sites, sent a letter to Abraham Thursday arguing that more cleanup money is needed in fiscal 2002 so DOE can meet its legal commitments. "Without adequate funding, these dramatic environmental problems will only become more difficult as waste leaks and equipment fail. A budget request below the necessary amount will result in delays and high long-term costs to the American taxpayer, not to mention added threats to the environment surrounding these former weapons production sites," the six wrote. President-elect George W. Bush named Abraham Tuesday as his candidate to succeed Bill Richardson as energy secretary. Abraham, a Republican who was defeated in his re-election bid for U.S. senator from Michigan, is a newcomer to most DOE issues. He had a conservative voting record on some fuel and environmental matters, and supports opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. Other than backing Nevada's Yucca Mountain as a permanent nuclear fuel and waste storage site, Abraham is a blank slate on nuclear and radioactive waste cleanup issues. Michigan does not contain any major DOE sites. In several weeks, DOE will submit its fiscal 2002 budget request to Congress. Roughly a third of that request, or about $6 billion, will be for cleaning up nuclear weapons production facilities across the nation, including Hanford. This year, Hanford's cleanup efforts received roughly $1.2 billion. To meet DOE's plans and legal cleanup obligations at Hanford for fiscal 2002, the agency will need roughly $1.6 billion. Fiscal 2002 begins Oct. 1. That extra $400 million--mostly for work on a treatment plant for Hanford's highly radioactive tank wastes--is a major part of the budget increase sought by the six congressmen. The other five, all Republicans, are Zach Wamp of Tennessee, Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, Rob Portman of Ohio, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Michael Simpson of Idaho. COPYRIGHT 2000 TRI-CITY HERALD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS ***************************************************************** 11 Experts dismiss tests for health damage Miami Herald: PUBLISHED SATURDAY, JANUARY 6, 2001, IN THE MIAMI HERALD by uranium to troops in Balkans action LONDON--(AP)--While European governments scramble to screen soldiers who may have been exposed to depleted uranium in the Balkans, many medical experts are skeptical that it caused cancer and other illnesses reported by veterans. A heavy metal with low levels of radioactivity, depleted uranium is used in ammunition to penetrate tanks and other armor. Some scientists believe the dust created when rounds hit targets may be harmful, but studies of Gulf War troops have found no proof it caused diseases. POLITICAL STRATEGY Some experts say the health screenings are little more than a political strategy to head off accusations that governments are covering up ill-health effects, as is alleged by some Gulf War veterans with unexplained illnesses. ``Depleted uranium vaporizes instantly. You would have to be very close to a damaged tank and be there within seconds of it being hit, '' said Yan Grosse, a toxicologist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization. ``These soldiers were very unlikely to have been exposed.'' But Roger William Coghill, a British radiation researcher, argued that depleted uranium--first used in ammunition during the Gulf War--could be the cause of illnesses reported by soldiers who served in the Balkans. Not all the depleted uranium vaporizes when the projectile strikes its target, and radioactive derivatives can linger in the air for months, he said. ``Just one particle in the lungs is enough,'' Coghill said, adding that a single particle could travel to the lymph nodes, where the radioactivity would lower the body's defenses against lymphomas and leukemia. ``There's still a lot of science to be found out, but I can't believe you can dismiss the link out of hand,'' he said. The controversy in Europe over NATO's use of depleted uranium in Bosnia in 1994-95 and later in Kosovo flared in December after Italy's defense minister, Sergio Mattarella, announced an investigation of 30 cases of illness involving soldiers who served in the region, 12 of whom developed cancer. Five have died of leukemia. OTHERS PLEDGE ACTION Spain, Portugal, Greece, Finland, Belgium, Turkey, Russia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and the European Union have also said they would screen troops and check radiation levels where their peacekeepers are serving. The Pentagon said this week that regular health checks have revealed no problems with leukemia and other illnesses among U.S. troops who served in the Balkans. A United Nations investigative team went to the region in November and is expected to publish its report next month. ***************************************************************** 12 UN Environmental Program head urges uranium sites in Kosovo be cordoned off THURSDAY, JAN. 11, 2001 UN Environmental Program head urges uranium sites in Kosovo be cordoned off GENEVA (CP)--A UN field survey of Kosovo sites assaulted by depleted uranium ammunition suggests that many could be contaminated, prompting demands Thursday that the areas be cordoned off and local people warned to stay away. While it's not clear the contamination poses a danger, precautions should be taken, the UN Environment Program said, adding that children and farm animals are wandering into the sites freely. "It was a little bit disturbing, an uncomfortable feeling that people were just living their normal lives in the middle of all this mess after the war," said Pekka Haavisto, leader of the UN team that checked the sites for radiation left over from NATO attacks in spring 1999. "Some of these sites were near villages or in the middle of villages. Cows were there, children were there," Haavisto said. Last July, NATO gave the UN Environment Program a list of 112 sites where depleted uranium ammunition was used in 1999, and the team took samples from 11 sites last November. The sites visited included Vranovac Hill in western Kosovo, where NATO said it had fired 2,320 rounds of depleted uranium ammunition. Of the 11 sites, eight were found to show signs of slight contamination, and a number of pieces of ammunition were found intact, the UN program said. The program's executive director, Klaus Toepfer, said it was too early to tell whether depleted uranium at the unmarked bomb sites poses a danger, but precautions should be taken in the meantime. Haavisto said local people apparently had not been given advice on the possible risks they face. Atotal of 340 samples taken during the two-week mission to Kosovo have been sent to five European laboratories for analysis. Results are expected in early March. Toepfer said all 112 sites should be visited, checked and clearly marked to protect the local people. Entry to contaminated areas should be blocked, he said. Depleted uranium is a heavy metal used in ammunition for its armour-piercing capabilities. Some medical experts have said exposure to radioactive dust from depleted uranium shells might lead to the development of cancer. Depleted uranium was used by NATO in Kosovo and also earlier in Bosnia. NATO maintains that there is no evidence that remains of depleted- uranium rounds pose a health risk, but cases of illness fuel the controversy. On Thursday, Dutch officials said four Dutch soldiers who served in the Balkans in the 1990s have since died of leukemia, but ruled out a connection with exposure to the weapons. Last month, Italy began studying the illnesses of 30 Balkans veterans, seven of whom died of cancer, including five cases of leukemia. In France, four soldiers are being treated for leukemia. Several European countries have begun screening soldiers who served as peacekeepers in the Balkans. ABritish army report written almost four years ago said that soldiers exposed to dust from the shells might be at risk of developing cancers, but a military adviser called it flawed, the British media on Thursday. On Thursday, Javier Solana, the NATO Secretary General during the allied air strikes in the Balkans, said more analysis on possible health risks was needed. Defence Minister Art Eggleton has said Canada would "support any effort by NATO to further examine this matter." His department said earlier this week that of the thousands of Canadians who served in the Gulf War and in the former Yugoslavia over the last decade, just 104 had asked to be tested as a result of the depleted uranium scare. Independent tests have failed to show any of them suffered ill health as a result of such exposure, officials said. ***************************************************************** 13 Radiation found at Kosovo bomb sites - January 5, 2001 NATO NATIONS WORRY U.S.AMMUNITION TIED TO CANCER DEATHS CNN.com - PATRICIA KELLY: January 5, 2001 Web posted at: 10:04 p.m. EST UNITED NATIONS--Evidence of radioactivity at eight Kosovo sites bombed with NATO depleted nuclear ammunition has been found by a United Nations' team. The results from 11 tests released on Friday in a preliminary report for the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) add weight to concerns that the NATO weapons could have caused illness among peacekeeping troops. NATO has come under pressure from several European governments over so-called "Balkans syndrome" after six Italian soldiers who served in Kosovo and Bosnia died of leukaemia. On Friday, the European Commission stood by warnings from its president, Romano Prodi, about the potential dangers of uranium-tipped shells amid competing claims about the health risks to troops using the controversial ammunition. "We want the whole truth to be known," Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres said Friday. "This is something that must also be done at an international level." The U.S. Defense Department said it had no plans to suspend use of the tank-piercing shells but would co-operate with any NATO study into mystery illnesses. The discovery of radioactivity at the sites tested by the U.N. was the first results of testing still underway at laboratories in Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Britain and Austria by UNEP. "The final results will only be known when the UNEP report is published in 2001, but there is enough preliminary evidence to call for precautions when dealing with used depleted uranium or with sites where such ammunition might be present," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. A U.N. report in May had warned that much of Kosovo's water could be so contaminated as to be unfit to drink, and that a clean-up of the province could cost billions of dollars. It warned U.N. staff not to approach any target that might have been hit by a depleted uranium weapon. The 11 sites tested by the UNEP team were among 112 in Kosovo hit by weapons containing depleted uranium according to a NATO map. The UNEP report also recommended that health checks be carried out on residents of the immediate area. Chorus of concern On Friday, Russia added its voice to a growing chorus of European concern over the weapons saying it was in favour of international investigations into the issue. "The problem of the consequences of NATO's use of depleted uranium ammunition is real and apparently needs to be evaluated by international experts," Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko told Ekho Moskvy radio. Moscow has sent 3,000 peacekeepers to Kosovo but fiercely opposed NATO's 1999 bombing campaign to drive Serb forces out of Kosovo. Russian peacekeepers are also deployed in Bosnia, where U.S. warplanes used depleted uranium weapons against Serbian armour in the mid-1990s. France confirmed on Thursday that four of its soldiers had contracted leukaemia after working in the Balkans. France has joined several countries backing Italy's call for NATO to examine the claims, and Portugal has now begun testing 10,000 military and civilian personnel who had served in the Balkans. Italian Under Secretary of Defence Marco Minniti with a NATO commander during a tour of Kosovo to reassure troops "The Italian request is justified," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said, adding that France would "provide its partners with all the information they needed." NATO said the Italian request would be examined by the North Atlantic Council next Tuesday. NATO's Secretary-General Lord Robertson told Italy the alliance will discuss more open and effective ways of exchanging information on health risks in conflict areas, Italy's defence ministry said on Friday. On Friday, Italian Under Secretary of Defense Marco Minniti visited Kosovo to reassure troops that it is doing everything possible to investigate the claims. The deputy head of Germany's Radiation Safety Committee, has now backed a ban on the use of depleted uranium in peacekeeping operations. "It is high time to demand a stop to these tank-penetrating weapons, because they hurt not only soldiers but also a large bulk of the population," Wolfgang Koehnlein said. Norway's military said on Friday it will send letters asking soldiers who served in the Balkans to report any illness that could be related to depleted uranium ammunition. In Athens, about 500 protesters marched to demand the return of Greek troops from Bosnia and Kosovo due to the health concerns. Britain said it had no evidence NATO's use of the munitions adversely affected British peacekeepers in the Balkans and had no plans to screen soldiers who served in Kosovo and Bosnia. Turkey and Yugoslavia found no cases of radiation exposure among their troops, and the International Committee of the Red Cross disclosed that tests on over 30 staff deployed during the 1999 Kosovo war showed no traces of depleted uranium. U.S. attack jets fired some 31,000 rounds of depleted uranium ammunition against Serbian targets during NATO's 1999 campaign to drive the Yugoslav army out of Kosovo. Some 10,000 rounds were also fired in neighbouring Bosnia in 1994- 5. The [*]Associated Press contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: c 2001 CABLE NEWS NETWORK. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 MoD knew of ammo risks for 10 years ISSUE 2052 Saturday 6 JANUARY 2001 BY MICHAEL SMITH, DEFENCE CORRESPONDENT AND CHRISTIAN JENNINGS IN PRISTINA THE Ministry of Defence admitted last night that it had known for 10 years that there were health risks from the depleted uranium ammunition used during the Gulf war and the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo. Politicians and representatives of soldiers around Europe called yesterday for investigations into what they claim to be links between use of the radioactive metal and illness, including leukaemia. Despite a number of British soldiers who served in the Balkans appearing to have symptoms similar to those of the so-called Gulf war syndrome, the MoD insisted that there was no cause for concern. The admission that defence chiefs were aware that there were risks involved in the use of depleted uranium came after the Telegraph obtained a copy of regulations issued to German troops in Kosovo warning of a potential long-term hazard. The document told soldiers not to approach any locations or equipment which had been hit with depleted uranium (DU) ammunition "except for life-saving purposes and/or measures indispensable to the mission accomplishment". Ammunition or other contaminated material should not be touched. "It must be assumed that not only the interior but also the surrounding area of an armoured vehicle destroyed by DU ammunition is contaminated. There is a potential health hazard in the form of DU exposure stemming from ammunition parts and destroyed DU-contaminated vehicles. Long- term hazards may also result from drinking water and soil contamination." Both Nato and the EU have launched investigations into the effects of depleted uranium amid concern over a number of suspicious deaths and illnesses among soldiers from France, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Portugal after their return from the Balkans. Gen Carlo Cabagiosu, the Italian commander of Kfor, the Nato-backed force which polices Kosovo, admitted yesterday that it was still not known whether there was a link to depleted uranium. Gen Cabagiosu said: "There has been a lot of scientific research to establish a direct link between this and soldiers with cancer. But the statistics have to be examined to see if this has to be taken seriously." The MoD said it was waiting for the results of a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) investigation in Kosovo and an independent study by the Royal Society which is due to report in the summer. An MoD spokesman said: "At present we see no cause for concern. From everything we know about depleted uranium, we have no reason to believe there is any significant risk to UK personnel." There were no plans to screen British troops who had served in the Balkans, he added. "Obviously if anyone comes up with any new evidence that suggests there is cause for concern then we will look at it again." Asked about the German regulations, the spokesman said that the MoD had issued similar instructions to its troops in Bosnia and Kosovo. He said: "That is just a sensible precaution. Our understanding of the levels of radioactivity is that they are so low that they pose only minimal risk to health." However, the Berlin-based Tageszeitung says today that an interim report by the UNEP team showed much higher levels of radioactivity than expected in areas where depleted uranium was used. Tageszeitung says that the UNEP team had made an urgent call for all 112 sites to be closed off after finding considerable concentrations of uranium dust in eight of a sample study of 12 bomb craters. The National Gulf War Veterans and Families Association said that a number of former soldiers who had served in the Balkans had come forward exhibiting similar symptoms to those reported among sufferers from Gulf War Syndrome. Shaun Rusling, the association's chairman, attacked the MoD for describing the debate over the use of depleted uranium as "a red herring". He has written to John Spellar, the Armed Forces minister, demanding an explanation. Mr Rusling asked Mr Spellar if an MoD alert over the dangers of depleted uranium was also a red herring. The warning, signalled to the HQ British Forces in Riyadh on Feb 25, 1991, pointed out likely health risks. It said: "Two potential health risks from DU oxide dusts exist. First. Irradiation from alpha particles. Levels are extremely low but ingestion and inhalation should be avoided. Second. Heavy metal oxide, treat as for exposure to lead oxides." The MoD signal warned that troops operating in areas where depleted uranium was present should wear gas masks and nuclear, biological and chemical protection suits. Mr Spellar admitted last November, in a written answer to a question from Tam Dalyell MP, that a number of British troops who might be exposed to depleted uranium, including the tank crews firing the ammunition, were not warned. The MoD says British tanks fired fewer than 100 depleted uranium rounds during the Gulf War compared to the 860,000 fired by US troops and aircraft. British troops are not thought to have used depleted uranium rounds in the Balkans but US aircraft fired 10,800 rounds in Bosnia and about 31,000 during the Kosovo conflict. of Balkan veterans in Balkans exposed to depleted uranium up ***************************************************************** 15 Gulf war veterans renew call for inquiry ISSUE 2052 Saturday 6 JANUARY 2001 BY ANTON LA GUARDIA, DIPLOMATIC EDITOR WAR veterans renewed their demand for a public inquiry into Gulf war-related illnesses yesterday following the leak of military documents exposing the dangers of depleted uranium munitions. Activists representing thousands of veterans of the 1991 Gulf war said the documents vindicated their claim that they were exposed to serious health risks during the war to evict Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991, and would re-invigorate their campaign for compensation and medical treatment. The disclosure could also prompt Iraq to renew its claim for compensation from Britain. In 1998, Iraq wrote to Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary- General, complaining that Allied forces were responsible for "exposing vast areas to fatal radioactive pollution", leading to deformed babies, tumours, skin diseases and loss of hair among civilians. A House of Commons select committee report last year said that more than 400 British Gulf war veterans had died and nearly 3,000 people had been seen by the Medical Assessment Programme for veterans. However, the Ministry of Defence said it did not know of any link between the symptoms and service in the Gulf, and said the number of deaths was not higher than for a similar age group in the civilian population. Tony Flint, spokesman for the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association, said: "The military planners have learnt the lesson and are now issuing information like this but they still deny that guys like myself, and thousands of others, have been affected by depleted uranium. "We call for a public inquiry so that we can know the truth. The Government may think that depleted uranium shells are a wonderful weapon. Not only do they kill the enemy but also they kill your own side." Mr Flint, a reserve medic who is suffering from a range of illnesses including emphysema, arthritis and muscular atrophy, added: "We must stop using these depleted uranium weapons. They also affect civilians on the ground." Terry Gooding, a former Royal Navy chief petty officer and a senior member of the Gulf Veterans' Association, joined the call. "We have been saying for a long time that there is problem among Gulf war veterans. There have been more than 500 fatalities which we believe are related to Gulf war service." The warning to soldiers in the Balkans about the dangers of depleted uranium were like "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted". Mr Gooding said: "Somebody out there has the answers but they are not telling the general public. We want a Royal Commission. With the elections coming, people should be asking their MPs what their party is going to do about this before it's too late." Thousands of American servicemen have also complained of becoming ill as a result of service in the Gulf. Joyce Riley, head of the American Gulf War Veterans' Association, said that in recent months she had received complaints from soldiers in the Balkans. She added: "They are scared of complaining because they are worried they will lose compensation. There is no doubt about the danger of depleted uranium. We are not talking about rashes and joint pains. The Department of Defence's intentional cover-up has caused a loss of lives. This is aiding and abetting the enemy." ***************************************************************** 16 Cheap, plentiful and toxic ISSUE 2052 Saturday 6 JANUARY 2001 BY ROGER HIGHFIELD, SCIENCE EDITOR DEPLETED uranium, or DU, is a radioactive heavy metal left over when the radioactive isotope uranium-235 is taken from naturally occurring uranium to fuel nuclear power stations and build nuclear bombs. This cheap and plentiful by-product is almost twice as dense as lead. It is valued by armies for its ability to punch through armoured vehicles. A report by the US Army Environmental Policy Institute said that DU had both chemical and radiological toxicity. It concluded that on the battlefield there were many hazards, against which the DU risk was small. The risk is greatest from ingesting DU or inhaling particles. DU poses a great threat to the kidneys, where high concentrations can lead to organ failure. There is also a radiological hazard, mostly due to short range alpha and beta radiation that can cause DNA damage and thus, in theory, lead to cancer. The amount is about 200,000 times less than the radium in instrument dials of Soviet tanks used by Iraq and 30 million times less than the americium in smoke detectors. The links between cancer and DU are tenuous, said Dr Michael Clark, of the National Radiological Protection Board. Cancer normally takes years to develop after exposure. The chemical hazard of DU was much greater than the radiological hazard, so one would expect cancer cases to be accompanied by kidney problems. The US Defence Department said exposure that could cause radiation-related problems was "thousands of times more than the exposure that could cause heavy metal toxicity symptoms". Around 15 veterans with embedded DU fragments have not so far shown health problems. ***************************************************************** 17 'My hair fell out and my teeth began to rot' ISSUE 2052 Saturday 6 JANUARY 2001 KEVIN RUTLAND, a 41-year-old father of three from Hull, served in Bosnia in 1995 and 1996 as a Royal Engineer before leaving the Army. But within a few months of returning home his hair fell out, he began to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, his teeth started to rot and he suffered from osteoarthritis. His symptoms have not improved and he now sees a psychiatrist for psychological problems caused by his illness. "It was only within the last year that it has come to my attention that it might be linked to the depleted uranium. "I've been to see more doctors than I've had hot dinners but it's not the sort of thing they are briefed about as the MoD and the Government are not telling them about it. I may be the first in this country but I believe there are more that have not come forward or do not know yet. I think I'm owed an explanation for my benefit and that of other servicemen." ***************************************************************** 18 'I was in pain but they couldn't find anything wrong' ISSUE 2052 Saturday 6 JANUARY 2001 DARREN BARTHOLOMEW, a 29-year-old father of two from Swadlincote, Derbys, was a driver in the Royal Corps of Transport, now part of the Royal Logistics Corp, when he was sent to serve in the Gulf war. "I went everywhere delivering supplies, particularly to the tank regiments. "I had a spate of illnesses when I came back from the Gulf but soon after we got back, in late 1991, we were deployed to Bosnia. Then in 1994, I was sent out to Bosnia a second time. I was flown home in July 1994 because I had pains in my testicles but they couldn't find anything wrong and I was sent back to Bosnia. Then in the August I had to be evacuated from the area with severe pains and they discovered the testicular cancer." Since leaving the Army he has had a urine test that proved positive for traces of depleted uranium. "The operation to remove the cancer was successful but I still have great pain and I also suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome." ***************************************************************** 19 No uranium tests for UK troops BBC News | SCI/TECH | Friday, 5 January, 2001, 15:47 GMT There may be hidden threats left in Bosnia and Kosovo BY ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT ALEX KIRBY Troops from the United Kingdom who served in Bosnia and Kosovo are not at present to be tested for the possible effects of depleted uranium (DU) weapons used in those countries. We are not aware that the use of DU in either Bosnia or Kosovo has contributed to ill-health in UK or other troops[I] British MOD The UK's decision contrasts with the approach of several of its European partners. Spain, Portugal, Finland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece and the Czech Republic have all begun checks. The president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, has called for DU weapons to be banned if they pose any risk. Six Italian Balkan veterans have died of leukaemia, and four French soldiers are being treated for the disease. Several cases have also been reported among Dutch troops who served there. Depleted uranium is a heavy substance, 1.7 times as dense as lead, and used in armour-piercing munitions. ROUTINE CHECKS A spokesman for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) told BBC News Online: "We have no plans to test British troops who served in the Balkans. "But we are open-minded, and we'll be interested to see the results of the tests by the Italians and the others. [I] Some veterans blame their illnesses on DU "We are not aware that the use of DU in either Bosnia or Kosovo has contributed to ill-health in UK or other troops, and so we're not at the moment planning to run a screening programme. "Anyway, most UK Balkan veterans are still serving in the armed forces, and so they'll be getting routine health checks." Backing for the Ministry has come from Brian Spratt, professor of biology at Oxford University, who is heading an inquiry by the Royal Society into DU weapons' long-term effects. INDEPENDENT TESTS Professor Spratt told BBC News Online: "I welcome the attitude of other European governments. But I think the Ministry probably has some justification for waiting to see their results. Ibelieve someone knows the answers, but will not provide them[I] Terry Gooding, UK Gulf War Veterans' News "With Gulf War veterans, though, where the circumstances were quite different, I think it's rather unfortunate that they are having great difficulty in getting themselves tested. "The British veterans who were tested in Canada, and whose urine was found to contain elevated levels of uranium - the Ministry should be retesting them. "The Royal Society is trying to broker a way forward so that they could be tested by an independent laboratory." The Royal Society inquiry is due to report later this year, but Professor Spratt said he thought there were already "some concerns" about the inhalation of DU particles. CANCER RATES "It may be that the risk means one or two extra cancer cases out of something like 100,000 troops exposed to high DU levels," he said. "It's encouraging that studies of uranium workers appear not to show higher cancer rates. If inhaling had been incredibly dangerous, the studies would have shown that. [I] Many DU rounds are fired by aircraft "My suspicion is that there may well be health consequences, they'll probably be fairly minor, but not absolutely zero. But there is considerable uncertainty." But Terry Gooding, editor of the UK Gulf War Veterans' News, says troops from both conflicts should be tested. He told BBC News Online: "This is much bigger than the Ministry thought. "The life expectancy of a Gulf veteran is 15 years, and I've had 10 of them. More than 500 of those who served with me are already dead. I believe someone knows the answers, but will not provide them, because dead men tell no tales." TIME RUNNING OUT The Ministry's critics say that, as uranium is eventually excreted from the body, delaying tests is effectively a way of allowing evidence of damage to be permanently lost. Pekka Haavisto, chairman of the UN Environment Programme's (Unep) Balkan DU assessment team, and former Finnish Environment Minister, led a mission to Kosovo last November, which found scattered DU fragments. He said: "It was surprising to find remnants of DU ammunition just lying on the ground one and a half years after the conflict. The ground directly beneath was slightly contaminated. So we paid special attention to the risks that uranium toxicity might pose to the groundwater around the sites." ***************************************************************** 20 FFTF backers gather for Richland rally This story was published 1/6/2001 BY ANNETTE CARY HERALD STAFF WRITER Laborers stood next to politicians, cancer patients next to engineers Friday as about 100 people gathered in a brisk winter wind to show their support for Hanford's Fast Flux Test Facility. The third week of January the Department of Energy plans to order the dormant reactor permanently shut down. That's despite a new six- volume, 20-pound federal study that supporters of the reactor thought clearly showed restarting the reactor as the nation's best choice to produce isotopes for medicine and other uses. "This is a travesty," said Richland Councilman Larry Haler, at the rally at John Dam Plaza in Richland. "This is a national issue and it should not have been politicized." "The Department of Energy under current policies is violating federal law," said Marlene Oliver, a West Richland consultant for new medical technology who spoke on behalf of the National Association of Cancer Patients. The Atomic Energy Act gives DOE the responsibility of providing isotopes for research and supplying additional isotopes if industry cannot, she said. DOE officials know private industry cannot produce isotopes that will be needed for treating cancer and that the government already isn't supplying research demand, she said. In 1999, the Radiological Society of North America, representing 30,000 radiologists, wrote in a letter supporting studying a restart of FFTF that many "promising isotopes are currently either unavailable or available in such small quantities from other production facilities that it is difficult to conduct clinical studies with even very small numbers of patients." "Research is being hampered or removed from consideration by a lack of these isotopes," the letter stated. It also stated that FFTF's capabilities are unmatched by any other device in the world. Isotopes already are widely used to diagnose illnesses, but also have uses in treating cancer with fewer side effects than surgery, chemotherapy or traditional radiation. For instance, medical isotopes are saving lives of people in clinical trials who have non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, the disease the killed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Jordan's King Hussein. While King Hussein's medical treatment cost $600,000 and was ultimately unsuccessful, treatment with medical isotopes would cost less than $10,000, Oliver said. "FFTF is the only source in the Western Hemisphere that can make medical isotopes in the quantities needed for treatment of non- Hodgkins lymphoma," Oliver said. "Yes, this is about jobs," said Bill Martin, president of Tri-City Industrial Development Council. "But it's also an opportunity to improve the quality of life for millions." Although a decision to shutdown the reactor is expected before President Clinton leaves office, FFTF supporters are asking the Bush administration to reverse the expected decision. Haler said he will use a meeting with the president this spring to lobby to save the reactor on behalf of the Hanford Communities, a coalition of Mid-Columbia governments. Benton County Commissioner Claude Oliver said the fact that Bush's proposed energy secretary, Spencer Abraham, opposed DOE decisions as a senator may work in FFTF's favor to get the pending decision reversed. Several Mid-Columbia governments are prepared to sue DOE to reverse a shutdown decision, including Richland, Kennewick and Benton County. Area ports, West Richland, Pasco and TRIDEC also are considering joining a suit, Claude Oliver said. Those at the rally, many of them wearing red, also called on supporters of a restart to send letters by Jan. 14 objecting to a shutdown, based on the recent DOE study. DOE is accepting comments via e-mail at Nuclear.Infrastructure-peis@hq.doe.gov or comments may be mailed to Colette E. Brown, document manager, Attn: NI PEIS, Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874. ***************************************************************** 21 Depleted uranium: EU concern grows BBC News | EUROPE | Saturday, 6 January, 2001, 14:03 GMT [I] Nato is still deployed potentially contaminated areas The European Union is to discuss launching an investigation into the use of depleted uranium weapons in the Balkans after soldiers from up to nine Nato countries reported developing cancer. On Friday, the United Nations said it found radioactive contamination at sites in Kosovo where Nato aircraft fired weapons containing depleted uranium (DU) in 1998. A UN spokesman said there was sufficient evidence to call for safety precautions when dealing with such locations. Nato has denied that there is a health danger from DU, which is used in armour-piercing shells. The alarm was raised this week when Italy, France, Belgium and Portugal called for an urgent investigation into cases of leukaemia among soldiers who had served in Bosnia and Kosovo. SPANISH CONCERNS The Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported on Saturday that "at least eight" former soldiers and aid workers were suffering from various cancers. [I] Dense DU shells can penetrate armour Spain officially denies that any Spanish soldiers were contaminated by radiation, despite the death of a former peacekeeper from leukaemia. Belgium has now asked the Swedish Presidency of the EU to look into the matter, a Swedish Defence Ministry spokeswoman told BBC News Online. Paula Burrau said the EU's political and security committee will debate the issue in Brussels on Tuesday. RADIOACTIVE 'SOUVENIRS' A team of UN scientists from several different countries visited 11 out of 112 sites in Kosovo bombed by Nato. You cannot totally exclude the possibility that people can sometimes suffer serious health effects from this type of ammunition[I] Head of UN mission, Pekka Haavisto At eight of the sites, they found either remnants of DU or evidence of increased radioactivity around the impact points left by the raids. The head of the team, Pekka Haavisto, told the BBC that 18 months after the Kosovo conflict they were surprised to find parts of DU weapons lying about in villages and graveyards where they could easily be picked up. "It can happen that children are playing in those areas, they pick up some remnants." "Even adults were picking up some memoirs of the war and putting them in their rooms - and then you have a radioactive source," he said. MINE RISK The UN says it cannot draw full conclusions from its work until detailed analysis is completed, but has warned that precautions should be taken near the sites, by both civilians and military personnel. [I] Kenneth Bacon: No evidence of health risks Mr Haavisto pointed out that mine-clearance operations could expose people to serious health risks. "If you explode mines in the areas where there is DU ammunition in the ground, you probably also explode again some DU ammunition and inhale this type of dust." European Commission President Romano Prodi has said that, if there was a risk to either military personnel or civilians, then the weapons should be abolished. NATO DIVIDED Depleted uranium is only mildly radioactive but, on impact with a solid object, it burns off in a spray of fine dust, which some scientists believe can cause cancer. However, the United States, Germany, the UK, Spain and Turkey, among other countries, say they have found no evidence of a link. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said the US military had carried out extensive studies into the use of the weapons during the Gulf War, and had found no evidence of a cancer or other health risk. The UK Ministry of Defence also rejected suggestions of a link. But other Nato allies are not so confident the weapons are safe. Italy, France, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Portugal are all looking into the deaths of former peacekeepers and are urging further investigation of the issue. ***************************************************************** 22 Mass testing for Balkans syndrome Age Breaking News Source: AFP|Published: Saturday January 6, 10:20 AM PARIS, Jan 5 AFP - More cases of cancer in former Balkan peacekeepers came to light today as governments ordered their troops to undergo medical tests despite United States assurances that depleted uranium weapons used by US NATO forces did not cause illness. "I think I'm owed an explanation for my benefit and that of other servicemen and women," said Kevin Rudland, 41, a British soldier who served a six-month tour of duty in Bosnia in 1996. After returning from the region, he developed osteoarthritis and tooth cavities, suffered from stress, lost hair and had to undergo psychiatric treatment. "This is a big problem that they've got and they need to look into it quickly," added Rudland. "I may be the first in this country but I believe there are more that have not come forward or do not know yet." So far, eight Italian soldiers or civilians have died of leukemia after serving in the Balkans, the Belgian army has reported five cases of fatal cancer cases, and France said it had detected four cases of leukemia in its Balkan veterans. But the list was growing longer. "He was sound as a bell when he went to Bosnia," said the mother of Istvan Koermendi, a Hungarian soldier who served in the Bosnian town of Okucani for two months in 1999. Koermendi was transferred home "in very bad shape" and died of leukemia shortly after at age 39, said the soldier's mother, quoted by the daily Magyar Hilap. Greece was also investigating the case of a soldier diagnosed with bone marrow cancer after serving in Bosnia in 1997 and 1998, while two Dutch, a Portuguese and a Czech are reported to have died of leukemia after returning from the region. Several governments have already ordered medical tests to be carried out on troops who served in the Balkans to check if they have been affected by radiation from depleted uranium (DU) projectiles. Tests among the 3600 Russian soldiers serving with the NATO-led UN peacekeeping forces in Kosovo will begin next week. "If it is proven that the illness of servicemen in the peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo is linked to the use of depleted uranium in armaments, then we have to withdraw our troops," said Sergei Yushenkov, deputy head of the State Duma lower house's defence committee. Portugal has ordered 10,000 of its soldiers to undergo medical examinations, while Greece announced that 3553 troops who served in Bosnia and Kosovo would be similarly tested. The Czech defence ministry said today it would create a commission of medical experts to check that 400 Czech soldiers were not suffering from any symptoms of the so-called Balkans syndrome. Belgium said around 10 per cent of its 12,000 soldiers who served in the Balkans were suffering from varied and unexplained illnesses, including persistent diarrhoea, insomnia and migraine headaches. Today, NATO chief George Robertson ordered a detailed investigation of Bosnian sites attacked by NATO planes using depleted uranium weapons in response to member states' escalating concerns. "I have accordingly asked the NATO military authorities to report as soon as possible on where the targets were attacked with munitions using depleted uranium (in Bosnia) and on the quantity of munitions involved," Robertson said in a letter to Italy's ambassador to NATO. The head of Kosovo's UN administration, Bernard Kouchner, was to meet health officials today to discuss whether uranium in NATO munitions could damage the health of the province's civilian population, his spokeswoman said. But the British government continued to down play the link: " We are unaware of anything that shows depleted uranium had caused any ill health of death of people who served in Kosovo or Bosnia, " the defence ministry said. French Defence Minister Alain Richard said: "For some time, we have been investigating the situation of the soldiers suffering from leukemia to try to see if there is any relation with their proximity to materials attacked by missiles bearing depleted uranium. "For the moment the results are negative, but we are continuing our investigations and we will take part in the debate within the NATO alliance," the minister said. The Pentagon said no adverse effects had been found in US personnel who handled the ammunition and rejected calls for a moratorium on the use of DU shells. "We don't see any health reason to consider a moratorium now, " Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said in Washington yesterday. The United States has admitted firing 31,000 DU projectiles during the air campaign against Belgrade in 1999 and 10,800 on Bosnia in 1994 and 1995. Britain has denied using the munitions. Copyright © 2000 The Age Company Ltd. Any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited. ***************************************************************** 23 EU Backs Prodi Over 'Balkan Syndrome' Warning FRIDAY JANUARY 5 1:56 PM ET Radiation Found At Yugoslavia Bombing Sites (REUTERS) Friday stood by warnings from its president about the potential dangers of uranium-tipped shells amid a swirl of competing claims about the health risks to troops using the controversial ammunition. The Defense Department said it had no plans to suspend use of the -- the so-called ``Balkan Syndrome.'' Britain said it had no evidence NATO's use of the munitions adversely affected British peacekeepers in the Balkans and had no plans to screen soldiers who served in Kosovo and Bosnia. Turkey and Yugoslavia found no cases of radiation exposure among their troops, and the International Committee of the Red Cross disclosed that tests on over 30 staff deployed during the 1999 Kosovo war showed no traces of depleted uranium. Depleted uranium is used in the tips of missiles, shells and bullets to boost their ability to penetrate armor and can be pulverized on impact into a toxic radioactive dust easily ingested by the body, defense experts say. Kosovo moderate leader Ibrahim Rugova said he feared irresponsible claims could lead to a stampede of peacekeeping and international agency staff from the province. But Germany's Taz daily newspaper reported that tests conducted by the U.N. Environmental Program on sites in Kosovo struck by NATO forces showed evidence of significant radioactivity. SITES ``CONSIDERABLY CONTAMINATED'' The newspaper said the UNEP report found that eight of 11 sites a U.N. team tested in November were in part ``considerably contaminated'' with uranium dust and unexploded munitions. Russia, which has about 3,000 peacekeepers in Kosovo, and France joined several countries backing Italy's call for NATO to examine the claims, and Portugal began testing 10,000 military and civilian personnel who had served in the Balkans. ``The Italian request is justified,'' French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said, adding that France would ''provide its partners with all the information they needed.'' NATO said the Italian request would be examined by the North Atlantic Council next Tuesday. Wolfgang Koehnlein, the deputy head of Germany's Radiation Safety Committee, backed a ban on the use of depleted uranium. ``It is high time to demand a stop to these tank-penetrating weapons, because they hurt not only soldiers but also a large bulk of the population,'' he told InfoRadio. Reuters Photo Prodi told Italian radio Thursday that the weapons should be abolished if they posed even minimal risk, adding, ``Even if this risk was not there I don't like the idea of using these particular weapons. ``I want the truth to be ascertained,'' Prodi said. EU and NATO diplomatic sources suggested that Prodi, a former Italian premier, was trying to support Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, who is under pressure from left-wing allies to probe charges that NATO's use of the rounds in its 1999 air war in Kosovo caused six leukemia deaths in Italy. France confirmed Thursday that four of its soldiers had contracted leukemia after working in the Balkans. The French Defense Ministry said there was nothing currently linking their illness to exposure to the ammunition, but added it had ordered an investigation into how the soldiers became ill and the risks they had faced. EU RIGHT TO BE CONCERNED Prodi's spokesman, Jonathan Faull, said his boss was right to speak out, that the Commission was entitled to be concerned, and that the EU's 15 member states would also support it. ``The president did not say anything untoward. He made his comments at the right moment,'' he said. ``In case people might be thinking that this is not necessarily the established policy in the Balkan region,'' Faull added. U.S. attack jets fired some 31,000 rounds of depleted uranium ammunition against Serbian tanks and armored vehicles during the 1999 Kosovo campaign, according to a U.N. expert. Some 10,000 were fired in neighboring Bosnia in 1994 and 1995, NATO officials reported last month. Despite the absence of scientific evidence that its debris is life- threatening, some military analysts say the ammunition has become the target of such an obsessive international campaign that it is now more of a political liability than it is worth. Reuters. ***************************************************************** 24 Egypt terms use of nuclear weapons as war crime ARABICNEWS.COM Egypt, Politics, 1/6/2001 To use nuclear weapons is to commit a "war crime" as defined by the basic declaration of the International Criminal Court (ICC) signed so far by 139 countries, including Egypt. This came as part of the explanatory notes which Egypt submitted while signing a document on ICC basic system in the second week of December, which was adopted by 27 nations so far. Assistant Foreign Minister for Multilateral Relations Soliman Awad on Friday said that Egypt asserted in its ICC explanatory notes that its stance, pertaining to nuclear weapons, fell in line with its conviction that Israel's nuclear programme, which did not meet the International Atomic Energy (IAEA) guarantee system, and its refusal to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) were causing a dangerous national security imbalance in the whole Mideast region. The latest media reports, referring to an Israeli reservations on an article in the ICC basic system, dealing with settlements and the malpractice by occupying countries against occupied nations, are not true, Awad said that the system did not allow for reservations, but only for explanatory notes which do not have the legal authority of reservations. "Explanatory notes did not conflict with the court's basic system or rob it of its context and objectives," he noted. "Egypt has lodged another explanatory note on retaining the right to pursue perpetrators of war crimes, or those responsible for crimes committed against humanity, before the ICC is put into effect," Awad added. Copyright c 2000 Arabic News .com . All Rights Reserved. Send and ***************************************************************** 25 K-25 cleanup stalled by DOE budget issues Frank Munger, News-Sentinel senior writer Contractor denies it voluntarily halted project OAK RIDGE--A cleanup project reportedly near completion at the K-25 plant has been halted because of a "budgetary" issue, a U.S. Department of Energy spokesman confirmed Friday. Steven Wyatt of DOE's Oak Ridge office said cleanup operations at Building K-1420 were "voluntarily suspended" by the contractor, Decon and Recovery Services, but he refused to elaborate on the situation. "Discussions are under way to resolve this issue, which is budgetary in nature," Wyatt said. "DOE expects this matter to be resolved as soon as possible to allow this work to continue on schedule." A spokesman for the contractor said the company is trying to work out funding issues and other things with DOE, but he disagreed that the work suspension--involving about 30 workers--was voluntary. The project at K-1420, a former uranium-recovery facility, was launched in late 1997 amid great hoopla. The federal agency awarded DRS a $10 million contract and called it "a major milestone" in the reindustrialization program, which involves the cleanup of old facilities at the former uranium-enrichment plant. Those facilities are then to be leased to private companies. Under terms of its contract, DRS was responsible for decontaminating the 80,000-square-foot building to standards for industrial applications. The cleanup involves removal of uranium and other radioactive materials. "Once cleanup is completed, DRS will be given the opportunity to lease the facility from the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee for commercial use," DOE said in press statement. "Future use plans for the facility could include establishing light industrial and commercial nuclear services, which would provide additional jobs . . ." Meanwhile, U.S. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., and other congressmen sent a letter Friday to Spencer Abraham, the energy-secretary designate, asking that the Bush administration give top priority to nuclear cleanups in Oak Ridge and other DOE sites. Members of the House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus asked Abraham for funding support in the proposed budget for fiscal 2002, which will be submitted to Congress next month. DOE's environmental management program must realize a significant increase to continue to meet its legally binding commitments at sites around the nation, the congressmen wrote to Abraham. "A budget request below the necessary amount will result in delays and higher long-term costs to the American taxpayer, not to mention added threats to the environment surrounding these former weapons production sites," the letter said. Although significant progress has been made at the Cold War-era nuclear sites, "daunting environmental challenges" must be addressed in the years ahead, the letter said. Senior writer Frank Munger can be reached at 865-482-9213 or twig1@knoxnews.infi.net. Copyright 2000 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co. ***************************************************************** 26 Westinghouse renews deal Web posted Saturday, January 6, 2001 Staff Writer Bill Richardson fulfilled his final promise to Savannah River Site supporters Friday. The U.S. Energy Secretary, who will leave office this month, renewed Westinghouse Savannah River Co.'s contract to operate the federal nuclear-weapons site. The company, which has operated SRS since 1989, received a six-year, $8.4 billion extension to its deal. Mr. Richardson had said he intended to renew Westinghouse's contract during a visit to Augusta in November. In a statement issued Friday, the U.S. Department of Energy's top official at SRS said the renegotiated contract was better than its predecessor. ``The extension improves the terms of the contract to increase the focus on performance and results,'' said Greg Rudy, the Energy Department's manager at the site. Westinghouse executives welcomed the news. ``This extension assures an element of stability and continuity over the next several years,'' Joe Buggy, president of Westinghouse Savannah River Co., said in a statement. ``We believe our current and future missions will best be executed now that we have the opportunity to continue the work we have under way today.'' But some nuclear watchdogs raised concerns about the renewal, criticizing Westinghouse's environmental record at SRS and pointing to racial- discrimination lawsuits filed against the company by dozens of black employees. ``Frankly, we find the prospect of another six years with a corporate culture at SRS that sanctions environmental crimes and abuses against black workers to be quite grim,'' said Glenn Carroll, coordinator for Georgians Against Nuclear Energy. ``But then, we fervently wish we will ever have any Energy Department contractor which will give us cause to celebrate.'' Most of the contract's $8.4 billion will go toward the costs of operating the site. But Westinghouse can earn up to $345 million over the life of the deal for meeting performance incentives. Unlike the previous contract, the company can earn bonuses for completing what federal officials call ``stretch'' projects - work that was not funded in the site's budget. Westinghouse also can earn advances against reaching future goals. But if the company fails to finish the job, it is liable for the amount of the advance plus interest. The agreement retains the site's network of subcontractors beneath Westinghouse: Bechtel Savannah River Inc., BWXT Savannah River Co., and British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. Savannah River Corp. The deal is the largest plum of several that Westinghouse's parent company, Washington Group International Inc., has received from the Energy Department. Last month, the company won two Energy Department contracts: as the lead partner in a five-year, $500 million deal to operate the U.S. Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, N.M.; and as the minority partner in a 10-year, $4 billion deal to design, build and operate a radioactive-waste treatment plant at Hanford Site in Washington. Washington Group's government-services arm, which will oversee its operations at all three sites, is building a $6 million corporate headquarters in downtown Aiken. Augusta ***************************************************************** 27 Measure would tame firing nukes from American soil BY GREG AVERY Camera Staff Writer A group of activists wants to require congressional approval for firing any nuclear missiles from American soil. The Respect the Law Foundation will launch a petition drive on Boulder's Downtown Mall at noon today in an effort to start the process of putting the issue on next November's ballot in Colorado. "We can't go on with the fossilized Cold War policies of the last century," said Page Penk, the founder of the effort who lives in Broomfield. Penk said he and about two dozen other activists hope to gather enough signatures to place a question on the ballot. If it passes, he said, Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar must file a class action lawsuit challenging the president's ability to authorize firing land-based nuclear missiles. Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress alone the right to declare war, and the activists say the use of nuclear weapons with only the president's authorization violates that provision. The concept had two legal inspirations, Penk said. First was a lawsuit joined by 40 state attorneys general against the tobacco industry that resulted in an unprecedented $206 billion settlement agreement. The other was the 1974 addition of Article 26 to the Colorado Constitution, banning nuclear explosions in the state without first getting state voter approval. The citizen-initiated law came in reaction to the Sept. 10, 1969, federal government test explosion of a 43-kiloton nuclear bomb 8,426 feet under the state's Western Slope. If voters can regulate the use of nuclear weapons in one state, why not nationwide, asks Penk. The declaration of war policies outlined in the U.S. Constitution gives American citizens that right, he said. He said the petition was written to include only land-based nuclear missiles so that national security would not be threatened and its arsenal of sea-based missiles could still be effective. Penk received final approval for the petition Friday morning from the Colorado Secretary of State's Office. It took three tries to get the petition approved by the state legislative committee overseeing initiative efforts. University of Colorado law professor Robert Nagel said the petition drive seems mainly to be an effective educational tool, not a legal one. "As a way of focusing attention on this issue and provoking a debate, it might be useful, Nagel said. "As a practical legal matter, whether legally it can force a suit and ultimately constrain the president, I think that it's extremely dubious on both counts." Many constitutional questions, particularly when it comes to defining war powers, are largely unsettled, Nagel said. And, as was shown during the Vietnam War, U.S. courts are typically loath to decide what is seen as a political question, he said. Ken Lane, Attorney General's Office spokesman, said he understood Penk's analogy to the tobacco lawsuits. But in that instance, as in any number of state suits against the federal government, the states were authorized to sue under existing laws. The federal government has the power to set policies for national defense, not the states, Lane said, and it's doubtful the state could challenge federal powers regarding nuclear weapons use. The office also has no intention of researching the possibility of it unless an initiative is passed, Lane said. "There's no sense in getting worked up over it since it's more than a year away from our perspective," he said. "We have a lot on our plate to begin researching something so theoretical." The Respect the Law campaign has already attracted the notice of Green Party members in other states and of anti-nuclear activists as far away as Romania, thanks to the Internet. The fact that the Colorado initiative has gathered attention is a good sign, Penk said. If nothing else, it may at least spark a debate. "I don't think, and our supporters don't think, that we've really had this discussion in this country," Penk said. Contact Greg Avery at (303) 473-1307 or averyg@thedailycamera.com. January 6, 2001 Copyright 2000 The Daily Camera. All rights reserved. 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