The impact of depleted uranium on the environment in Serbia

Abstract

During the 1999 war, NATO forces used >30,000 rounds of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition, with a total mass of around 10 tons, on the then Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (now the Republic of Serbia). After the war, between 2002 and 2007, land decontamination was carried out. This paper presents a comprehensive study of the impact of depleted uranium on soil and water in Serbia, with a special focus on contaminated locations in southern Serbia. The study includes key results from analyses of uranium isotopes ²³⁸U and ²³⁵U in soil and water, and their ratio (²³⁵U/²³⁸U) before and after land decontamination. Data from the UNEP international mission, as well as other studies from the end of the war to the present, were analyzed. Reported values of ²³⁸U and ²³⁵U in the remaining penetrators were 12.7 ∙ 10⁶ Bq/kg and 1.9 ∙ 10⁵ Bq/kg, respectively. The maximum measured values of ²³⁸U in contaminated soil were up to 307,000 Bq/kg, and ²³⁵U values were up to 3920 Bq/kg. The established ²³⁵U/²³⁸U ratios indicate that the contamination of soil with DU was near the impact sites of the penetrators, while values in more distant samples were within natural levels. It was found that the water in southern Serbia was not contaminated with DU and that the concentrations were comparable to other studies. After the remediation measures were carried out on contaminated sites, no DU presence was detected in soil or water. This is confirmed by DU monitoring results in Serbia conducted from 2013 to 2023. Additional studies for other parts of Serbia show no evidence of environmental contamination with DU, as all results are comparable to reported global values. Furthermore, to minimize any potential health risks to people, continuous monitoring of uranium at high-risk locations in southern Serbia is necessary.

Keywords: Contamination; Depleted uranium; Environment; Radioactivity monitoring; Soil; Water.