1 of 2 Image shows Martyrs’ Square in the heart of Libya’s capital Tripoli on January 11, 2023 — Photo: Mahmud Turkia/AFP Image shows Martyrs’ Square in the heart of Libya’s capital Tripoli on January 11, 2023 — Photo: Mahmud Turkia/AFP
That’s what inspectors at the United Nations (UN) nuclear agency found out 2.5 tons of natural uranium disappeared from a camp in Libya that is not under government control, the body said in a statement Wednesday obtained by Portal news agency.
The discovery occurred during a routine inspection. It was originally scheduled for last year but had to be “postponed due to the security situation in the region” and took place on Tuesday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said in a confidential statement.
That’s what IAEA inspectors found out 10 drums, contains approximately 2.5 tons of natural uranium in concentrated ore form previously declared for storage at this location were not present, the statement said.
The agency also said it will assess the circumstances of the uranium’s removal from the hardtoreach site and try to determine where the casks are now.
“The loss of knowledge of the current location of nuclear material can represent a radiological riskas well as concerns from Nuclear Safety“, he said.
The communiqué did not specify where the uranium was to be located or who was responsible for it, only stating that it was not under the interim government’s control.
Political instability
2 of 2 A line of armored vehicles are seen in Tripoli, capital of Libya, in a photo taken in 2022 — Photo: Yousef Murad/AP A line of armored vehicles are seen in Tripoli, capital of Libya, in a photo taken in 2022 to see — Photo : Yousef Murad/AP
In 2003, Libya renounced its nuclear weapons program under the then head of state Muammar Gaddafi. The country had received centrifuges capable of enriching uranium and design information for a nuclear bomb, although it has made little progress towards a bomb.
Libya has had little peace since a NATObacked insurgency toppled Gaddafi in 2011. Since 2014, political control has been split between rival factions from East and West, with the last major outbreak of conflict ending in 2020.
Libya’s interim government, installed by a UNbacked peace plan in early 2021, was only to last until an election scheduled for December this year, and its legitimacy is now also being challenged.
Rival factions will clash in the Libyan capital in 2022