Nato moves to ease uranium fears

Nato used DU munitions in its bombing of Yugoslavia

Nato has announced a range of measures to try to allay concern over the health effects of depleted uranium ammunition.

But speaking in Brussels, the Nato Secretary-General, Lord Robertson, insisted that the fears were misplaced.

We have nothing to hide. Nato will be completely open and transparent

Lord Robertson

And he said Nato would not give in to demands from member countries, such as Italy and Germany, to suspend the use of the weapons.

Depleted uranium (DU) has been blamed for a number of leukaemia cases among former peacekeepers who served in the Balkans.

"We are confident that there is little risk from DU munitions, but we refuse to be complacent," Lord Robertson told journalists at Nato headquarters in Brussels.

Click here to see where illness has been reported

"The existing medical consensus is clear. The hazard from depleted uranium is both very limited and limited to very specific circumstances," he argued.

But Lord Robertson accepted that Nato's assurances were not being accepted in many quarters.

The BBC defence correspondent, Jonathan Marcus, says Nato is embarking upon a full-scale action plan to try to minimise concern by disseminating and exchanging information on DU among allied governments.

The plan includes:

• A new committee to study further the effects of DU
• Providing details of locations struck by DU weapons
• Liaising with other international organisations
• Co-ordinating research

Armour piercing

Nato aircraft fired tens of thousands of DU rounds during Nato's 1995 bombing of Bosnian Serb targets and 1999 air war against Yugoslavia.

Nato targeted Yugoslav tanks with DU-tipped weapons

The rounds are denser than standard ammunition, making them more effective against armour.

Depleted uranium gives off relatively low levels of radiation, but can be dangerous if ingested, inhaled as dust or if it enters the body through cuts or wounds.

As a heavy metal, it is also chemically poisonous in addition to being radioactively poisonous.

Six Italian soldiers, five Belgians, two Dutch nationals, two Spaniards, a Portuguese and a Czech national have died after serving in the Balkans. Four French soldiers and five Belgians have also contracted leukaemia.

On Tuesday, US Defence Secretary William Cohen reiterated the position of both Washington and London that no link had been proven between depleted uranium and the cases of cancer among former peacekeeping troops.

Nevertheless, the UK Government has now agreed to the medical screening of its personnel in the Balkans, a measure already adopted by Italy, Portugal and other Nato allies.

And the European Union has launched its own investigation, which will include an assessment of whether spent DU shells pose any health risks for workers taking part in reconstruction programmes.

Yugoslav liaison

Earlier on Wednesday, Lord Robertson met the new Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic - the first Yugoslav minister to visit Nato headquarters since the alliance bombed Yugoslav forces in Kosovo.

Robertson: Refuses to be 'swayed by perceptions'

The two sides agreed to share all available information about depleted uranium residues in the Balkans.

A Portuguese minister, meanwhile, said an independent Portuguese investigation had turned up no significant examples of increased radiation after studying 52 sites in Kosovo.

Russian politicians and generals say initial screening has found no illness among its soldiers who served in the Balkans.

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