NATO to Provide Information on DU UseVisiting NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe General Joseph Ralston said here on Wednesday that it is necessary to provide all information about the use of depleted uranium to the public now, local media reported.Ralston said that the surgeons-general from all NATO countries would meet in Brussels next week and all their findings will be maximally transparent. Meanwhile, he played down the growing fears over the Balkan syndrome, which is allegedly caused by depleted uranium contained in NATO's ammunition. A bullet tipped with depleted-uranium heavy medal for increased armor penetration is smaller than a pen and depleted uranium had 40 percent less radioactivity than natural uranium contained in soil, he added. He stressed that NATO would not give up the possibility using depleted-uranium ammunition in order to fight against the attack by enemy's armored tanks. NATO has come under pressure from several European governments after six Italian soldiers who had served in Bosnia and Kosovo developed leukemia and died after exposure to the ammunition. NATO fired about 31,000 rounds of depleted uranium ammunition in 112 locations around the Yugoslav province of Kosovo in 1999. |
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