APPLICATION OF NUCLEAR METHODS TO DETERMINE THE DEGREE OF CONTAMINATION OF THE ŠAR MOUNTAINS AQUATORIUM DOE TO THE USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM AMMUNITION

Abstract

The study represents the research of the origin and connection of waters of the Šar Mountains aquatorium using natural isotopes of water, tritium and oxygen 18O. The waters of two lakes and two creeks that dominate this aquatorium have been analyzed.
Monitoring of the seasonal maximum, taking into account the obtained tritium profile of the soil and the temperature on the day of collection (and around it), unequivocally showed that all the water in the Šar Mountains aquatorium is of atmospheric origin and, as such, unsuitable for any major transformation for commercial purposes. In addition, the study presents the results of the examination of the Šar Mountains aquatorium for contamination with depleted uranium. Doubts about the possibility of such contamination are justified because during the spring of 1999, a conflict took place on the territory of the Western Balkans in which ammunition with depleted uranium was used.
Based on the obtained results, it was concluded that there was no contamination of the Šar Mountains aquatorium with depleted uranium. The expanded measurement uncertainty was less than 5%.