This paper discusses some questions concerning the use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons in Yugoslavia by NATO in the Nineties. First of all, it is shown that DU is harmful and dangerous, not only as a chemically toxic agent, but also from the radiological viewpoint. Secondly, political and military authorities could not be uninformed of the dangers of DU and of its use in wars of the last decade; it is incorrect to say that DU weapons are not forbidden at the international level. A calculation is carried out to obtain an estimate of the cases expected to occur in the balkans population: we can reasonably expect population and foreign soldiers to develop tumours caused by DU. In the appendices, further questions are discussed: it is shown that the presence of DU is difficult to determine experimentally by field research. In addition, we focus on two points that broaden the perspective of the “DU problem in the Balkans”. We note that DU is only the tip of an iceberg as regards the consequences of what amounts to a chemical, radiological and environmentally destructive war conducted by NATO against Yugoslavia and against the entire environmental system in the Balkans. In the end, we discuss epidemiological data on the Yugoslavian civilian population to demonstrate that chemical and radioactive pollution, as well as the living conditions of Yugoslavian civilians, have already caused thousands of after-war cancer fatalities and birth defects.
Some facts on depleted uranium, its military use, its effects on the health of population / Zucchetti, Massimo. - CD-ROM. - CD-ROM:(2001), pp. 1-8. (Intervento presentato al convegno Workshop on Nuclear Physics and International Symposium on Nuclear and Related Techniques. WONP-NURT 2009 tenutosi a La Habana (Cuba) nel 22-26 Oct 2001) [10.13140/RG.2.1.3379.8647].
Some facts on depleted uranium, its military use, its effects on the health of population
ZUCCHETTI, MASSIMO
2001
Abstract
This paper discusses some questions concerning the use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons in Yugoslavia by NATO in the Nineties. First of all, it is shown that DU is harmful and dangerous, not only as a chemically toxic agent, but also from the radiological viewpoint. Secondly, political and military authorities could not be uninformed of the dangers of DU and of its use in wars of the last decade; it is incorrect to say that DU weapons are not forbidden at the international level. A calculation is carried out to obtain an estimate of the cases expected to occur in the balkans population: we can reasonably expect population and foreign soldiers to develop tumours caused by DU. In the appendices, further questions are discussed: it is shown that the presence of DU is difficult to determine experimentally by field research. In addition, we focus on two points that broaden the perspective of the “DU problem in the Balkans”. We note that DU is only the tip of an iceberg as regards the consequences of what amounts to a chemical, radiological and environmentally destructive war conducted by NATO against Yugoslavia and against the entire environmental system in the Balkans. In the end, we discuss epidemiological data on the Yugoslavian civilian population to demonstrate that chemical and radioactive pollution, as well as the living conditions of Yugoslavian civilians, have already caused thousands of after-war cancer fatalities and birth defects.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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https://hdl.handle.net/11583/2629382
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