Libya Missing Uranium: Days after the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that around 2.5 tonnes of uranium stored in Libya have gone missing, armed forces in the eastern region of the country has said that they found it, reported BBC.
The UN nuclear watchdog said that it was verifying the reports as the area where the recovery has taken place is not under government control. It sounded an alert after a visit by its inspectors earlier this week to the undisclosed site, the report added.
According to BBC, the self-styled Libyan National Army’s (LNA) media head said that ten drums containing the ore were found near the border with Chad.
On Wednesday, as reported by AP, Vienna-based IAEA said that its director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, informed member states about the missing uranium.
The IAEA said, “Agency safeguards inspectors found that 10 drums containing approximately 2.5 tons of natural uranium in the form of uranium ore concentrate were not present as previously declared at a location in the state of Libya.”
“Further activities will be conducted by the agency to clarify the circumstances of the removal of the nuclear material and its current location,” the agency further said.
AP reported citing Reuters that IAEA warned about the missing Libyan uranium, saying the site is not under government control and required “complex logistics.”
As per the report, natural uranium cannot immediately be used for energy production or bomb fuel, unless it goes through the enrichment process. This requires the metal to be converted into a gas, then later spun in centrifuges to reach the levels needed, the report mentioned.
BBC mentioned in the report that the LNA, which claims to have found the uranium, is a coalition of military units, local, tribal and Salafi militias. It is being led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, a veteran officer who took part in the coup that brought Col Gaddafi to power in 1969.
It is pertinent to note that in December 2003, the then-military ruler of Libya, Col Muammar Gaddafi publicly renounced nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. But since after he was killed in 2011, the country has been divided into competing political and military factions.
As per BBC, it is now split between an interim, internationally recognised government in the capital, Tripoli, and another one in the east and neither is in control of the south, where the uranium was taken from.