http://europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/europe/01/15/defence.uranium.02/index.html

LONDON, England -- Nuclear safety advisers for the British Government warned 10 years ago about the potential health hazards of controversial uranium tipped weapons.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority's 1991 report warned that depleted uranium (DU) shells left in Kuwait after the Gulf War were potentially harmful.

DU weapons have been linked -- although there is no solid scientific proof -- to illnesses among peacekeepers who served in the Balkans, where the weapons were also used.

The report, which AEA confirmed to CNN.com was published in full in 1998 in response to a parliamentary question. It was publicised as senior medical officers of the 19-member NATO alliance met in Brussels on Monday to examine reports of health problems.

The special meeting of the Committee of the Chiefs of the Military Medical Services (COMEDS), which normally assembles twice a year, was being held at the Belgian Defence Ministry.

The AEA report said: "Handling heavy metal munitions does pose some potential hazards, as does the possibility of the spread of radioactive and toxic contaminations as a result of firing in battle. and can become a long-term problem if not dealt with .and [pose] a risk to both military and civilian population."

The report said the tank ammunition fired by British and U.S. vehicles in the Gulf War amounted to 50,000 pounds of depleted uranium.

If that amount of DU was inhaled it could kill 500,000 people, but the report added: "Obviously this theoretical figure is not realistic; however, it does indicate the significant problem."

The report said "the DU will be spread around the battlefield in varying sizes and quantities, from dust particles to full-size penetrators (tank shells and air-launched systems) and it would be unwise for people to stay close to large quantities of DU for long periods."

It warned that there was an urgent need to clean up DU shells in Kuwait because of the risk of radioactive contamination.

Switzerland is the latest country to launch an investigation into the health claims. The report's existence was highlighted the day after the chief prosecutor for the International War Crimes Tribunal said NATO's use of depleted uranium could be investigated as a possible war crime.

Carla del Ponte said "if we have sufficient elements we will be obliged to investigate" whether the use of the heavy metal in the Balkans conflicts constituted a war crime.

DU weapons were used in the Balkans by U.S. Air Force A-10 aircraft against Serb armoured vehicles.

DU, used in the tips of missiles, shells and bullets to boost their ability to penetrate armour can be turned on impact into a toxic radioactive dust, some defence experts say.

The Pentagon says 31,000 rounds were fired during the 1999 war over Kosovo. In U.S.-led airstrikes in Bosnia in 1994 and 1995, about 10,800 rounds were fired around Sarajevo.

Several NATO member states, including Italy, are now carrying out their own health and scientific investigations into a possible link between the use of the weapons in the Balkan wars and cancer-related deaths among servicemen serving in the region.

Switzerland's defence ministry said on Sunday it planned to check the health implications of DU weapons test-fired in central Switzerland 30 years ago.

Russia, meanwhile, is calling for an international conference of specialists to look at the problem within the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Rudolf Scharping, the German defence minister, said he sees no link between reported leukaemia cases among German soldiers and the deployment of German peacekeepers to Kosovo.

After consultations with health experts and military staff, Scharping said he was standing by the finding of independent examinations in 1999 of German troops returning from Kosovo.

Health tests on soldiers sent to Kosovo and those not deployed there showed no differences, he said.

The Defence Ministry says the incidence of two cancers -- leukaemia and lymphoma -- among German soldiers was no higher than among the general population in 1999.

Scharping has called for a moratorium on using depleted uranium weapons so more research can be carried out, but he also has criticised media-generated "hysteria" on the issue.

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