Radiological Conditions in Areas of Kuwait with Residues of Depleted Uranium
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RADIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT REPORTS SERIES Radiological Conditions in Areas of Kuwait with Residues of Depleted Uranium Report by an international group of experts IAEA SAFETY RELATED PUBLICATIONS IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS Under the terms of Article III of its Statute, the IAEA is authorized to establish standards of safety for protection against ionizing radiation and to provide for the application of these standards to peaceful nuclear activities. The regulatory related publications by means of which the IAEA establishes safety standards and measures are issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series. This series covers nuclear safety, radiation safety, transport safety and waste safety, and also general safety (that is, of relevance in two or more of the four areas), and the categories within it are Safety Fundamentals, Safety Requirements and Safety Guides. 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RADIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN AREAS OF KUWAIT WITH RESIDUES OF DEPLETED URANIUM Report by an international group of experts The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GREECE PARAGUAY ALBANIA GUATEMALA PERU ALGERIA HAITI PHILIPPINES ANGOLA HOLY SEE POLAND ARGENTINA HONDURAS PORTUGAL ARMENIA HUNGARY QATAR AUSTRALIA ICELAND REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA AUSTRIA INDIA ROMANIA AZERBAIJAN INDONESIA RUSSIAN FEDERATION BANGLADESH IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF SAUDI ARABIA BELARUS IRAQ SENEGAL BELGIUM IRELAND SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO BENIN ISRAEL BOLIVIA ITALY SEYCHELLES BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JAMAICA SIERRA LEONE BOTSWANA JAPAN SINGAPORE BRAZIL JORDAN SLOVAKIA BULGARIA KAZAKHSTAN SLOVENIA BURKINA FASO KENYA SOUTH AFRICA CAMEROON KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SPAIN CANADA KUWAIT SRI LANKA CENTRAL AFRICAN LATVIA SUDAN REPUBLIC LEBANON SWEDEN CHILE LIBERIA SWITZERLAND CHINA LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COLOMBIA LIECHTENSTEIN TAJIKISTAN COSTA RICA LITHUANIA THAILAND CÔTE D’IVOIRE LUXEMBOURG THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CROATIA MADAGASCAR REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CUBA MALAYSIA TUNISIA CYPRUS MALI TURKEY MALTA CZECH REPUBLIC UGANDA DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MARSHALL ISLANDS UKRAINE OF THE CONGO MAURITIUS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES DENMARK MEXICO DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MONACO UNITED KINGDOM OF ECUADOR MONGOLIA GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND EGYPT MOROCCO EL SALVADOR MYANMAR UNITED REPUBLIC ERITREA NAMIBIA OF TANZANIA ESTONIA NETHERLANDS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ETHIOPIA NEW ZEALAND URUGUAY FINLAND NICARAGUA UZBEKISTAN FRANCE NIGER VENEZUELA GABON NIGERIA VIETNAM GEORGIA NORWAY YEMEN GERMANY PAKISTAN ZAMBIA GHANA PANAMA ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. © IAEA, 2003 Permission to reproduce or translate the information contained in this publication may be obtained by writing to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagramer Strasse 5, P.O. Box 100, A-1400 Vienna, Austria. Printed by the IAEA in Austria August 2003 STI/PUB/1164 RADIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT REPORTS SERIES RADIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN AREAS OF KUWAIT WITH RESIDUES OF DEPLETED URANIUM Report by an international group of experts INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2003 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Radiological conditions in areas of Kuwait with residues of depleted uranium. — Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2003. p. ; 29 cm. – (Radiological assessment reports series, ISSN 1020–6566) STI/PUB/1164 ISBN 92–0–106603–1 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Radiation — Kuwait — Safety measures. 2. Uranium — Environmental aspects. 3. Radioactive pollution — Measurement. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Series. IAEAL 03–00324 FOREWORD Various locations around the world have been affected by radioactive residues, sometimes from peaceful activities, such as the mining and milling of uranium ores, and sometimes from military activities, such as nuclear weapon testing. In the recent past, radioactive residues have also resulted from the use of depleted uranium in conventional munitions in conflicts in the Balkans and the Middle East. After these conflicts, questions arose regarding the possible radiological consequences of the residues for local populations and the environment, and the governments of the affected States were obliged to respond. Many of the residues are in States where the infrastructure and expertise necessary for evaluating the radiation risks posed by the residues and for making decisions on remediation are insufficient. In such cases, governments have felt it necessary to obtain outside help. In other cases, it has been considered to be socially and politically desirable to have independent expert opinions on the radiological conditions caused by the residues. As a result, the IAEA has been requested by the governments of a number of Member States to provide assistance in this context. The assistance has been provided by the IAEA under its statutory obligation “to establish… standards of safety for protection of health… and to provide for the application of these standards… at the request of a State”. An assessment was requested by the Government of Kuwait in relation to the residues of depleted uranium munitions from the 1991 Gulf War that exist on its territory. In February 2001 the IAEA was requested to conduct surveys and assessments in order to evaluate the possible radiological impact of depleted uranium residues at a number of locations in Kuwait. For this purpose the IAEA assembled a team of senior experts, including a representative of the United Nations Environment Programme, which was led by R.H. Clarke, Chairman of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The team visited Kuwait in September 2001 to assess the sites identified by the Government of Kuwait and to evaluate the available information. In February 2002 scientists from the IAEA and the Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland, together with local experts, carried out a programme of measurements and sampling at the sites in Kuwait to provide an independent technical basis for the assessment. This report, which includes the findings and conclusions of the team of senior experts and recommendations to the Government of Kuwait, is issued in the Radiological Assessment Reports Series. EDITORIAL NOTE Although great care has been taken to maintain the accuracy of information contained in this publication, neither the IAEA nor its Member States assume any responsibility for consequences which may arise from its use. The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their bound- aries. The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed