Traces of nuclear-type uranium discovered in Libyan equipment
ISTANBUL, Turkey – International inspectors said in a confidential report Friday that they had discovered traces of uranium suitable for nuclear weapons in Libya that were similar to contamination found last year in Iran.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, said in the report that small particles of weapons-grade uranium were found on components for centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for reactors or atomic bombs.
The components arrived in Libya from Pakistan in December 2002 and they were purchased through an international nuclear smuggling ring headed by A.Q. Khan, a Pakistani scientist.
Similar contamination was found last year at three separate locations in Iran, which also is suspected of receiving nuclear technology through the Khan network.
A copy of the confidential report was provided to the Los Angeles Times by a Western diplomat on condition that he not be identified.
The document, written by Mohammed ElBaradei, the director of the IAEA, also said that a university in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, had “a research laboratory and associated equipment that would be of some use for supporting nuclear weapon related research and development.” The report said that the agency has not yet been able to verify claims by Libya that it did not engage in direct research aimed at building a nuclear bomb. The Khan network sold it old Chinese designs for a nuclear bomb in late 2001 or early 2002, according to the report and intelligence officials.
Libya opened its doors to IAEA inspectors early this year after declaring that it was abandoning its nuclear ambitions. The decision came after secret talks with the United States and Britain.
Since then, inspectors have uncovered a smuggling ring that reached from Southeast Asia to Africa and Europe, with Khan at its helm.
The discovery of the weapons-grade uranium on centrifuge components delivered from Pakistan in late 2002 could support Iran’s claims that similar traces on its machines had come with the previous owners in Pakistan.