Nuclear watchdog reports on looted Iraqi site

Wednesday, 16 July 2003 8:00 PM

Uranium compounds that may have been dispersed in the alleged looting of the Tuwaitha complex in Iraq pose "no danger from the point of view of proliferation", the International Atomic Energy Agency has claimed.

IAEA inspectors today released their report on the nuclear site following their inspection in Iraq last month.

Director general Mohamed ElBaradei estimated that at least 10kg of uranium compounds could have been lodged in nearly 200 containers that were believed to have been stolen following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime.

But that quantity and the type of uranium - surviving as dust on the container walls - could not be used in weapons manufacture.

However, Mr. ElBaradei is due to call on the US-led provisional authority in Iraq "to make every effort to recover" the dispersed material and to ensure that other nuclear sites in Iraq are safeguarded.

And despite the positive news regarding the possibility of proliferation, there are still concerns from environmental groups that the Tuwaitha site poses a health risk to the local population.

Last month, a team of Greenpeace radiation experts reported the discovery of nuclear material and high levels of radioactivity in villages to the south of Baghdad, near the Tuwaitha site.

The group claims it is a "scandal" that the international community is not doing more to ensure that the area is decontaminated and the medical check-ups are given to those who may have been affected.

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