RADIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT REPORTS SERIES During the conflict in Iraq in 2003, depleted uranium Radiological Conditions in Selected Areas of Southern Iraq with Residues of Depleted Uranium munitions were employed by the Coalition Forces. As a result, residues of depleted uranium contaminated both Radiological Conditions in localized areas of land and vehicles. The possible health effects of such residues on the Iraqi population living in the vicinity of the affected areas raised concerns. In 2004, the Iraqi Minister of Environment made a formal Selected Areas of request of the United Nations Environment Programme for a comprehensive field assessment. In early 2005, a meeting involving UNEP, the World Health Organization Southern Iraq with and the IAEA took place to discuss, plan and coordinate work on the assessment of depleted uranium residues in southern Iraq. In 2006, during a follow-up meeting that included UNEP, the IAEA and the Radiation Protection Residues of Depleted Uranium Centre of the Iraqi Ministry of Environment, the IAEA was invited to undertake a radiological assessment of the data collected by the Radiation Protection Centre. This report describes the methods, assumptions and parameters used by the IAEA in the assessment of the post-conflict radiological conditions of specified locations for local populations and in the environment. The report uses the results provided by UNEP from the 2006–2007 sampling campaigns, and presents these Report by an results, findings and conclusions. international group of experts INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA ISBN 978–92–0–100910–4 ISSN 1020–6566 P1434_cover.indd 1 2010-07-22 11:13:38 RELATED PUBLICATIONS IAEA SAFETY RELATED PUBLICATIONS IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS EnvironmEntal ConsEquEnCEs of thE ChErnobyl aCCidEnt and thEir rEmEdiation: twEnty yEars of ExpEriEnCE Under the terms of Article III of its Statute, the IAEA is authorized to establish report of the un Chernobyl forum Expert Group “Environment” or adopt standards of safety for protection of health and minimization of danger to life radiological assessment reports STI/PUB/1239 (166 pp.; 2006) and property, and to provide for the application of these standards. ISBN 92–0–114705–8 €40.00 The publications by means of which the IAEA establishes standards are issued in the IAEA Safety Standards Series. This series covers nuclear safety, radiation safety, transport safety and waste safety. The publication categories in the series are Safety radioloGiCal Conditions in thE dniEpEr rivEr basin Fundamentals, Safety Requirements and Safety Guides. radiological assessment reports Information on the IAEA’s safety standards programme is available at the IAEA STI/PUB/1230 (185 pp.; 2006) ISBN 92–0–104905–6 €38.00 Internet site http://www-ns.iaea.org/standards/ The site provides the texts in English of published and draft safety standards. The radioloGiCal Conditions in arEas of Kuwait with rEsiduEs of dEplEtEd uranium radiological assessment reports texts of safety standards issued in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish, the STI/PUB/1164 (73 pp.; 2003) IAEA Safety Glossary and a status report for safety standards under development are ISBN 92–0–106603–1 €25.00 also available. For further information, please contact the IAEA at PO Box 100, 1400 Vienna, Austria. All users of IAEA safety standards are invited to inform the IAEA of experience radioloGiCal Conditions of thE wEstErn Kara sEa in their use (e.g. as a basis for national regulations, for safety reviews and for training radiological assessment reports STI/PUB/1068 (124 pp.; 1999) courses) for the purpose of ensuring that they continue to meet users’ needs. ISBN 92–0–104298–1 €32.00 Information may be provided via the IAEA Internet site or by post, as above, or by email to [email protected]. radioloGiCal Conditions at thE sEmipalatinsK tEst sitE, KazaKhstan: prEliminary assEssmEnt and rECommEndations for furthEr study OTHER SAFETY RELATED PUBLICATIONS radiological assessment reports STI/PUB/1063 (43 pp.; 1998) ISBN 92–0–104098–9 €14.50 The IAEA provides for the application of the standards and, under the terms of Articles III and VIII.C of its Statute, makes available and fosters the exchange of information relating to peaceful nuclear activities and serves as an intermediary among thE radioloGiCal situation at thE atolls of mururoa and fanGataufa: its Member States for this purpose. main rEport Reports on safety and protection in nuclear activities are issued as Safety radiological assessment reports STI/PUB/1028 (282 pp.; 1998) Reports, which provide practical examples and detailed methods that can be used in ISBN 92–0–101198–9 €87.00 support of the safety standards. Other safety related IAEA publications are issued as Radiological Assessment Reports, the International Nuclear Safety Group’s INSAG Reports, Technical Reports radioloGiCal Conditions at biKini atoll: prospECts for rEsEttlEmEnt and TECDOCs. The IAEA also issues reports on radiological accidents, training radiological assessment reports STI/PUB/1054 (67 pp.; 1998) manuals and practical manuals, and other special safety related publications. Security ISBN 92–0–100398–6 €20.50 related publications are issued in the IAEA Nuclear Security Series. Cover: A satellite image of an area in southern Iraq. The orange markings indicate sampling areas. (Photograph courtesy of UNEP.) www.iaea.org/books P1434_cover.indd 2 2010-07-22 11:13:39 RADIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN SELECTED AREAS OF SOUTHERN IRAQ WITH RESIDUES OF DEPLETED URANIUM Report by an international group of experts The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GHANA NORWAY ALBANIA GREECE OMAN ALGERIA GUATEMALA PAKISTAN ANGOLA HAITI PALAU ARGENTINA HOLY SEE PANAMA ARMENIA HONDURAS PARAGUAY AUSTRALIA HUNGARY PERU AUSTRIA ICELAND PHILIPPINES AZERBAIJAN INDIA POLAND BAHRAIN INDONESIA PORTUGAL BANGLADESH IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF QATAR BELARUS IRAQ REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BELGIUM IRELAND ROMANIA BELIZE ISRAEL RUSSIAN FEDERATION BENIN ITALY SAUDI ARABIA BOLIVIA JAMAICA BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JAPAN SENEGAL BOTSWANA JORDAN SERBIA BRAZIL KAZAKHSTAN SEYCHELLES BULGARIA KENYA SIERRA LEONE BURKINA FASO KOREA, REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE BURUNDI KUWAIT SLOVAKIA CAMBODIA KYRGYZSTAN SLOVENIA CAMEROON LATVIA SOUTH AFRICA CANADA LEBANON SPAIN CENTRAL AFRICAN LESOTHO SRI LANKA REPUBLIC LIBERIA SUDAN CHAD LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA SWEDEN CHILE LIECHTENSTEIN SWITZERLAND CHINA LITHUANIA SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC COLOMBIA LUXEMBOURG TAJIKISTAN CONGO MADAGASCAR THAILAND COSTA RICA MALAWI THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CÔTE DIVOIRE MALAYSIA REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CROATIA MALI TUNISIA CUBA MALTA TURKEY CYPRUS MARSHALL ISLANDS UGANDA CZECH REPUBLIC MAURITANIA UKRAINE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MAURITIUS UNITED ARAB EMIRATES OF THE CONGO MEXICO UNITED KINGDOM OF DENMARK MONACO GREAT BRITAIN AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MONGOLIA NORTHERN IRELAND ECUADOR MONTENEGRO EGYPT MOROCCO UNITED REPUBLIC EL SALVADOR MOZAMBIQUE OF TANZANIA ERITREA MYANMAR UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ESTONIA NAMIBIA URUGUAY ETHIOPIA NEPAL UZBEKISTAN FINLAND NETHERLANDS VENEZUELA FRANCE NEW ZEALAND VIETNAM GABON NICARAGUA YEMEN GEORGIA NIGER ZAMBIA GERMANY NIGERIA 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’’. RADIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT REPORTS SERIES RADIOLOGICAL CONDITIONS IN SELECTED AREAS OF SOUTHERN IRAQ WITH RESIDUES OF DEPLETED URANIUM Report by an international group of experts INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2010 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at: Marketing and Sales Unit, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books © IAEA, 2010 Printed by the IAEA in Austria June 2010 STI/PUB/1434 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Radiological conditions in selected areas of Southern Iraq with residues of depleted uranium. — Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2010. p. ; 30 cm. — (Radiological assessment reports series, ISSN 1020-6566) STI/PUB/1434 ISBN 978–92–0–100910–4 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Radioactive pollution — Iraq. 2. Depleted uranium — Health aspects — Iraq. 3. Depleted uranium — Environmental aspects — Iraq. 4. Depleted uranium – Military applications. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Series. IAEAL 10–00629 FOREWORD Various locations around the world have been affected by radioactive residues at some time or another. Some of these residues are the result of peaceful activities; others from military