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Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Other uranium hot spots
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina -- U.N. experts said yesterday they found three radioactive hot spots in Bosnia resulting from ammunition containing depleted uranium used during NATO air strikes in 1995.
The tests found radiation at two sites in the Sarajevo suburb of Hadzici and one in Han Pijesak, in the Bosnian Serb republic, according to preliminary results released by the United Nations Environmental Program.
During its 1995 bombings of Serb positions around Sarajevo, NATO used munitions containing depleted uranium, a slightly radioactive heavy metal that is used to pierce armor. The Bosnian government said about 10,800 rounds with the material were fired in its territory.
Once lodged in the soil, the munitions can pollute the environment and create an up to 100-fold increase in uranium levels in groundwater, according to the U.N. Environmental Program.
"We are concerned about the situation at the Hadzici tank repair facility and the Han Pijesak barracks," said Pekka Haavisto, chairman of the U.N. agency's task force.
The areas where radiation is detected should not be used until the sites are decontaminated, Haavisto said.
The U.N. team advised Bosnia to start decontaminating the three sites and educating people about potential hazards.
A full report is to be published by the U.N. Environmental Program in March 2003.
-- The Associated Press
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