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The U. N. nuclear watchdog said no 2. 5 tons of grass-based uranium were found, but the ore itself posed a small radiation threat.
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By Euan Ward
More than 2. 5 tons of grass-based uranium have disappeared from a site in war-torn Libya, the director-general of the U. N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday, telling member states the company is looking for the material.
The uranium ore itself poses a small irradiation threat, said Sinead Harvey, spokeswoman for the United Nations watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. as well as problems of nuclear ties” if they are not found.
On Tuesday, the nuclear curtain was found missing from an inspection in Lithrougha through the U. N. watchdog, Harvey said.
The firm’s director-general, Rafael Grossi, informed U. N. member states about the lack of barrels the next day, the IAEA said in a statement. The firm did not say where the inspection was carried out or whether the site was under the control of the Libyan government.
Independent weapons experts have agreed with A. I. E. A. ‘s assessment. that curtains did not necessarily constitute an immediate danger.
“It’s a concentrate of uranium, called yellowcake, which means it’s most commonly uranium-238 and it’s not a big fear in terms of nuclear proliferation,” said Patricia Lewis, a nuclear physicist and arms control expert. “The radiation coming out of this type of uranium is very low. “
“But what can happen, and it’s been a fear for a long time, is that armed non-state teams will just load a traditional bomb with these things,” said Lewis, who runs the external security program at Chatham House, a London program. Basic Study Group.
Zia Mian, a physicist and nuclear proliferation expert at Princeton University, said the number of missing curtains falls below the “significant amount” threshold of 10 tons set by the IAEA. The agency considers the approximate number of nuclear curtains for which the production option excludes a nuclear explosive device.
On Thursday, the IAEA said it was “aware” of unconfirmed reports that curtains may have been found. “The company is actively working to determine them,” he said of the reports.
The A. I. E. A. A. described the inspection site as “declared through the State of Lithrougha under the Additional Protocol,” referring to a 2004 agreement that gave inspectors from the U. N. nuclear watchdog more sites in the country to assess the country’s now-defunct nuclear program.
Libya’s leader in 2003, Col. Muammar Gaddafi, gave up his nuclear weapons program after the U. S. invasion of Iraq and has already acquired centrifuges that allowed the country to enrich uranium. out of the country to a facility in Tennessee.
Libya’s last enriched uranium was disposed of the country in 2009, according to the United Nations. But the firm estimated in 2013 that about 6,400 barrels of yellowcake remained in southwestern Libya, and its inspectors continued their efforts to inspect Libyan sites.
They have faced damaging obstacles in their paintings over the past decade, ever since Colonel Gaddafi lost control of the country in a popular revolt. and his government overthrown that year.
In the years since, Lithrougha has been divided by warring factions and political crises, creating obstacles for the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
This week’s inspection was originally scheduled for last year, but “had to be postponed due to the security scenario in the region,” according to a Reuters report, which brought up confidential information from IAEA Director General Mr Grossi. The company not without delay respond to an inquiry about the report.
Ms Lewis, the expert at Chatham House, said UN inspectors “have not been monitoring” nuclear curtains in Libya. He added that the potential risk of the curtains “depends entirely on where they went. “
“It disappeared by accident, which sounds ridiculous but it happened in the past,” he said, pointing to the recent example of a radioactive capsule lost in the Western Australian desert. safeguard mechanisms,” he added.
Another option is that smugglers took the curtains without fully understanding their value, he said, adding that this happened at the end of the Cold War and could drag uranium into the foreign black market.
“There are too many unknowns right now,” he added.
The A. I. E. A. no responded Thursday to a request for explanation on whether the Libyan government had asked to locate the missing nuclear material. Harvey said the company “stands ready,” at Libya’s request, “to provide mandatory assistance on this factor for the implementation of foreign nuclear weapons. “protection criteria and guidance on nuclear security”.
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