PARIS - Depleted uranium munitions, 31,000 rounds of which NATO has admitted using during the Kosovo conflict, are prized by the military because of their ability to slice through thick armor at great range.

They were first used by the US military during the 1991 Gulf War which rolled back the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Since then Baghdad has claimed that thousands have suffered from the missiles' radioactive after-effects.

Although radioactive, depleted uranium is valued mostly for its extreme density, which allows missiles incorporating the metal to be stronger and therefore more effective against armored weapons such as tanks.

The US Air Force's A-10 "tank busters" are armed with GAU-8 Avenger cannons which fire 30 mm shells, of which the armor piercing incendiary category contain depleted uranium.

Several NATO states are also equipped with depleted uranium weapons, including British and French tanks. A 120 mm tank round holds about four kilos (nine pounds) of depleted uranium.

Depleted uranium burns up on impact, creating a radioactive dust whose effect remains at the center of safety debates. The dust of the depleted uranium, or U238, has a half-life of 4.2 billion years.

The use of depleted-uranium munitions has been strongly condemned by environmentalists, who have blamed the weapons for causing deaths, deformities and sterility for years after their initial use.

The Pentagon says 33 US veterans who were wounded in friendly fire incidents with depleted uranium rounds during the Gulf War show no signs of illness or toxicity even though some still have fragments in their bodies.

In December, Washington dismissed as "completely unfounded" Iraqi charges that high cancer rates in Iraqi children are linked to the use of depleted uranium ammunition by US and British forces.

The joint UN Environment Program (UNEP)/Balkans Task Force on Tuesday said the information provided by NATO on its use of depleted uranium was not detailed enough to assess the environmental and human health impact.

"If you know these targets and places, you shouldn't let your children go there to play, take any components from the ground, take any dust from the ground or take any pieces of metal because the toxicity problem is there," spokesman Pekka Haavisto said.

The World Health Organization (WHO), a member of the interagency group, is producing a general report on the health effects of depleted uranium which should be available by mid-May.

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