Missing Libyan uranium recovered: everything to know about the nuclear fuel

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Wednesday that its inspectors discovered the missing uranium after an originally planned inspection last year “had to be postponed due to the security situation in the region”.

Here’s everything you need to know about uranium and its uses as nuclear fuel.

What is uranium and where is it found?

Uranium is a heavy metal that naturally occurs in low concentrations in soil, rock, and water. It is commercially extracted from uranium-rich minerals.

About two-thirds of the world’s uranium production from mines comes from Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia, according to 2022 data from the World Nuclear Association.

What is uranium used for?

The radioactive metal is the most widely used fuel for nuclear power because of its abundance and the relative ease of splitting its atoms. It is also used in cancer treatment, for naval propulsion, and in nuclear weapons.

U-238 is the most common isotope of uranium found in nature but it cannot generate a fission chain reaction – the process of splitting a uranium atom to release energy.

However, the U-235 isotope can be concentrated through a process called enrichment to produce energy by fission, making it suitable for use in nuclear reactors and weapons.

How much uranium is needed for a nuclear weapon

According to Dr. Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists, the missing uranium contains enough of the U-235 isotope that, if enriched to more than 90%, the first generation atomic bomb could be manufactured.

“It is not a direct or immediate proliferation hazard, but the loss of large amounts of natural uranium is a concern because of its potential for conversion into nuclear weapons use material.”

Should this phenomenon be a cause for concern?

Dr Lyman says the incident calls into question the IAEA’s ability to maintain continuity of knowledge on nuclear materials in countries that are active conflict zones.

Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in Libya following a 2011 NATO-backed uprising. Since 2014, political control has been split between rival eastern and western factions, with the conflict’s last major bout in 2020.

Expressing concern about the remote location of uranium ore and the vast infrastructure needed to enrich it, Scott Roker, vice president for nuclear material security at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said that the worst-case scenario would be “a country with a secret nuclear weapon”. weapons program and is using that material for such a program.”