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Euro-Parliament calls for moratorium on use of depleted uranium weapons

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January 18, 2001 

BRUSSELS-- (AP) - The European Parliament on Wednesday called for a moratorium on the use of depleted uranium munitions despite NATO's assurances the ammunition was not responsible for cancer cases among Balkan peacekeepers.

The 626-member parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, France, voted 394-60 for the non-binding resolution, which called on the European Union and NATO to impose a moratorium and consider "all measures" to protect health and the environment. There were 106 abstentions and the rest were not present.

Delegates, however, turned down calls by the environmentalist Green Party for an immediate ban on the use and testing of depleted uranium munitions.

Depleted uranium, a slightly radioactive heavy metal, is used in anti-armor munitions because of its high penetrating power. U.S. forces fired weapons containing depleted uranium in Bosnia in 1994 and 1995, and in 1999, NATO fired such weapons during its 78-day bombing campaign in Yugoslavia.

Public concern has swept Europe in recent weeks as various nations have reported cancer cases among veterans of Balkan peacekeeping missions.

However, NATO insist there is no scientific evidence linking cancer cases to depleted uranium. Last week, NATO rejected an appeal from Germany and Italy to impose a moratorium because there is no armed conflict underway in Europe.

During Wednesday's parliamentary debate, Javier Solana, who served as NATO secretary-general during the Yugoslav bombing campaign, came under strong criticism for purportedly failing to provide sufficient information on possible health risks associated with depleted uranium.

French Socialist Francis Wurtz, leader of the United Left Party, accused Solana and the Western alliance of keeping Europeans in the dark about the threat of depleted uranium and then of launching "a rearguard action" to suppress the truth.

"People have died, others are ill and others are living in anxiety in fear for their future, including civilians," Wurtz said. "We are now asking you for an explanation of serious events."

Solana told the delegates he shared their concern but insisted that both he and NATO had not withheld any information.

"We are all democracies. We have nothing to conceal," he said. Solana insisted that there is no evidence currently available to suggest "that expended depleted uranium munitions represented a significant risk for NATO-led forces or the civil population in the Balkans."

However, Green Party leader, Paul Lannoye of Belgium, said the EU must act now rather than wait for further studies.

"Depleted uranium is not a natural substance," he said. "It is a waste product from the nuclear industry and should be treated as such. It is not right to say, `oh we have to wait to establish whether there is a link."'

Members of the assembly's largest party, the conservative People's Party, also demanded more information.

"We have heard about Pentagon investigations in January 2000 saying that sometimes in the use of this type of ammunitions, small quantities of plutonium are contained and that there could be risks, which affect the soldiers in the areas where the weapons are used," German conservative Elmar Brok said.

In Geneva, the U.N. Environment Program said ammunition tips found at sites targeted by NATO during the Kosovo conflict contained traces of enriched uranium from nuclear reprocessing plants.

U.N. scientists said that this indicates that as least some of the depleted uranium ammunition may have come from reprocessed nuclear fuel and might also contain more hazardous plutonium.