Germany issues uranium 'all clear'

GENEVA, Switzerland -- Tests on German peacekeepers serving in Kosovo have revealed no signs of exposure to debris from depleted uranium ammunition.

The results were disclosed after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was "unlikely" that DU ammunition fired during NATO's air war against Yugoslavia could have caused cancer.

A special NATO meeting was also told on Friday that Portuguese soldiers serving in the Balkans are likely to encounter higher background uranium radiation at home than on their Kosovo and Bosnia missions.

But Turkey said two of its soldiers who served as NATO peacekeepers in Kosovo had been affected by exposure to DU munitions.

REFERENCE Balkans Syndrome   •  Uranium facts   •  Search for truth   •  Depleted uranium effects   •  Q&A: NATO fears   •  Cause for doubt   •  Cancer, leukaemia reports   •  What they say   •  In-depth: Kosovo   •  News search     ALSO Caution urged over 'Balkans syndrome'

German researchers said urine tests carried out by a medical body at the request of the Defence Ministry showed no unusual traces of depleted uranium (DU).

Paul Roth, a radiation expert at the research body that carried out the tests, said: "All measurements of uranium were around levels we would expect from groups which have not been exposed.

"Our results showed that none of the soldiers we tested had ingested depleted uranium, and where there is no uranium, there cannot be any illnesses caused by uranium."

Responding to reports in Italy that several deaths of former peacekeepers from leukaemia resulted from a so-called Balkans Syndrome caused by exposure to DU munitions, Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping called the risk to German soldiers "negligible."

Scharping has ruled out comprehensive testing on all of the 60,000 German group troops who have seen peacekeeping action in the Balkans.

That position contrasts with the line taken by the British government, which has extended screening to include not only troops who served in the Balkans but also veterans of the 1991 Gulf War.

Roth's institute tested a sample of 121 German troops before, during and after their Kosovo deployments. Some had been involved in clearing the wrecks of vehicles destroyed by DU munitions. A control sample of a further 200 volunteers from Germany also took part.

The WHO, the Geneva-based United Nations health agency, issued its first recommendation on the ammunition since the beginning of the current controversy over potential health risks.

The body concluded it was "unlikely" that exposure to NATO weapons containing depleted uranium could have led to a higher risk of cancer among military personnel who served in the Balkan conflicts.

But it said that it plans a study to "assess whether there has been an increased rate of cancer amongst military personnel who served in the Gulf War or Balkans, as well as amongst exposed populations."

It also called for the cordoning off and cleaning up of sites in Kosovo where DU ammunition landed during the NATO air campaign.

A WHO spokesman told CNN their research showed there was no link between DU and leukaemia, but there might be links with other forms of cancer.

"Until we know what is going on, it is better to be cautious," he said.

The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), has called for a more extensive survey of sites in the Balkans that were hit by NATO shells containing depleted uranium.

An IAEA spokesman said checks on at least 30 sites were required for a satisfactory survey to determine whether debris from the shells could cause cancer.

Portuguese officials said early results of an on-the-spot study of 50 depleted uranium sites closest to where that country's troops with NATO were based "showed overall natural levels or uranium are actually lower than in Portugal itself."

"The idea of a general risk of contamination is false," a NATO statement quoted the official as telling a special meeting of some 60 representatives of NATO and non-NATO countries who have contributed troops to the peacekeeping missions.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Huseyin Dirioz said: "We have two personnel who had been affected at a benign level,". He did not elaborate on the exact nature of their health complaints.

Ankara earlier said it had found no such cases but would study the subject and share information with NATO allies.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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NATO
UN Environment Programme: Balkans
World Health Organization
U.S. Dept of Energy: Depleted Uranium

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