Libyan general says 2.5 tonnes of missing uranium found near storage base
More than 2 tons of missing natural uranium found in Libya by UN nuclear watchdog BBC reported, The Libyan National Army said in a statement that the uranium containers were recovered “barely five kilometers (three miles)” from where they were stored in southern Libya.
The group, led by rebel Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter, also released a video of a worker counting barrels of uranium in the desert in southern Libya.
”The situation is under control. The IAEA has been informed,” General Khaled al-Mahjoub, commander of eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar’s communications department, told the AFP news agency.
Earlier on Tuesday, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency had reported missing uranium. It added that “uranium had disappeared from a site in Libya and may pose a radiological risk”.
on Tuesday, ”agency security inspectors found 10 drums containing about 2.5 tons Natural uranium in the form of uranium ore concentrate did not exist as previously announced at a location in the Kingdom of Libya,” the IAEA said. activities will be conducted.
Uranium is a naturally occurring element that can be refined or enriched to have nuclear uses. Uranium ore concentrates are also known to emit low levels of radioactivity. Experts told the BBC that although it cannot be made into a nuclear weapon in its current state, it could be used as raw material for a nuclear weapons programme.
Under its long-time former dictator Moamer Gaddafi, Libya had a suspected nuclear weapons program, which it dismantled in 2003. However, the North African country has been mired in a political crisis since the fall of Gaddafi in 2011, with the militia having myriad opponents. Alliances supported by foreign powers.
It is divided between a nominal interim government in the capital Tripoli in the west, and another backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar in the east.