Joined: 05 Oct 2005
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businessday.co.za
WASHINGTON — An additional 3kg of weapons-capable highly enriched uranium (HEU) have been removed from Libya, bringing to 20kg the total to be put under international control since the country abandoned its nuclear arms programme in 2003, US officials said on Wednesday. The recent two-day operation was carried out by Russia, the US energy department’s national nuclear security administration and UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Libya’s co-operation and commitment was key to this joint effort. It is a clear indication of Libya’s continued commitment to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction and proliferation-sensitive materials,” said national nuclear security administration director Linton Brooks. A US spokesman said an initial 17kg of HEU was removed from Libya in 2004. The latest shipment was part of a process to remove all Russian-origin HEU from Libya. The national nuclear security administration did not say how much was left. A report on Monday by the Libyan news agency quoted leader Muammar Gaddafi as saying Libya at one stage came close to building a nuclear bomb. This was the first time a Libyan official had confirmed the North African country had been trying to build a nuclear bomb. But a US official said the claim was “not credible”, because Libya possessed nuclear material but not enough expertise to complete the job. At Libya’s Tajoura Research Centre, the HEU was loaded into three specialised transportation containers provided by Russia, while US and IAEA experts monitored the process. The containers were airlifted under guard from an airport near Tripoli to a secure facility in Russia where the HEU will be blended into low-enriched uranium, which is less suitable for weapons production. The operation was part of the US global threat reduction initiative to secure vulnerable nuclear and radiological material around the world. About 189kg of HEU has been returned to Russia from Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Uzbekistan, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Libya. In December 2003, Libya said it would abandon its weapons of mass destruction programmes and allow international inspections. The move helped the Organisation of Petrol Exporting Countries repair relations with the West after decades of estrangement. The US said in May it would restore formal ties with Libya. Reuters |
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