Ten barrels (approximately 2.5 tons) of Muammar Gaddafi’s light-processed uranium recently went missing in Libya. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has Wednesday the United Nations (UN) nuclear watchdog reported that about 2.5 tons of natural uranium have disappeared at a Libyan site not under government control. The security situation in the region made inspections difficult for the IAEA last year.
In a report to the UN, the IAEA said that “the loss of knowledge about the current location of nuclear material may pose a radiological risk, as well as nuclear safety concerns.” Uranium is a radioactive, silvery metal used to produce nuclear fuel used to generate electricity in nuclear power plants. It is an important part of nuclear bombs and weapons. In its pure form, uranium is a silvery heavy metal that is nearly twice as dense as lead. The missing uranium was in a concentrate called the “yellow cake” – meaning it was in an intermediate stage in the nuclear processing stage and underdeveloped.
In 1969, when Muammar Gadaffi seized power from King Idris to become president of Libya, he pursued a nuclear weapons mission to counter Israel’s nuclear program. He then bought more than 2,000 tons of light-processed uranium from Niger. He began developing nuclear weapons using illegal nuclear proliferation networks and various black market sources. But in December 2003, after a series of diplomatic talks with the United States, Liberia agreed to roll back its nuclear program.
Speaking to Ventures Africa, an anonymous nuclear and economic expert noted that “with the fall of the government of Muammar Gaddafi and the failure of the United States (US) to replace his government with a democratic system, Libya fell further of an Islamic terrorist network. . The missing uranium was in a region not controlled by the UN-backed government, and this incident has made terrorism a thing of the past.”
The latest report from suggests the New York Post that the missing barrels were found 3 miles away from the storage site, a piece of information the IAEA has labeled unverified. According to speculation by Khaled Mahjoub, a spokesman for the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), a group of Chadian separatist fighters had raided the warehouse and stolen the barrels, hoping they contained weapons or ammunition, but then dumped them. .
“Apart from major countries that can produce nuclear weapons and probably other major terror groups, small militias usually don’t have what it takes to produce a nuclear weapon from radioactive elements. The most such groups can produce from a ‘yellow cake’ are dirty bombs of those radioactive elements,” said our anonymous expert. “I believe the people who moved the drums eventually abandoned them, either because they can’t handle radioactive elements or because they didn’t want the heat from NATO and other allied national forces.”
Everyone should be concerned. Nuclear bombs and dirty bombs are made with radioactive elements found in uranium. But the former is a million times more deadly than the latter. At the time of writing, the IAEA had not yet come out to confirm whether the barrels have been found or not. But if left unattended, the metal could spell doom for the lives of millions of people worldwide. That’s why the news is causing a stir.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that aims to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and prohibit its use for military purposes, including nuclear weapons. It is an autonomous organization within the United Nations (UN).
