MrBishop
Well-Known Member
Libya is one step closer to making it's own nuke...so, when do we invade?
U.N. report: Libya converted plutonium
Amount was less than needed for nuclear bomb
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 1:41 p.m. ET Feb. 20, 2004
VIENNA, Austria - Libya used technology and know-how acquired on the black market to process uranium into a small amount of plutonium, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Friday.
Diplomats citing a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency said the country was able to “separate a small amount of plutonium.”The report did not specify the amount, but it appeared to be less than the approximately 7 pounds required to make a nuclear bomb.
The confidential report also said Libya “imported nuclear material and conducted a wide variety of nuclear activities which it had failed to report” to the IAEA as required by agreements with the agency, diplomats told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The report was prepared by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei ahead of an agency board of governors’ meeting next month. A separate report on Iran is due within days.
• LIBYA: Maps, facts and figures
Revelations that Libya was able to process plutonium shed new light on how far the country was able to progress in its secret weapons program.
Libya announced in December it engaged in researching programs of mass destruction and promised to scrap them. While U.S. and British intelligence spoke of a fairly advanced program, the IAEA initially described Libya’s nuclear activities as at the beginning stages.
Much of Libya’s activity focused on enriching uranium, the report said. That — along with producing plutonium — is one way to develop the nuclear material used in warheads.
U.N. report: Libya converted plutonium
Amount was less than needed for nuclear bomb
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 1:41 p.m. ET Feb. 20, 2004
VIENNA, Austria - Libya used technology and know-how acquired on the black market to process uranium into a small amount of plutonium, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Friday.
Diplomats citing a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency said the country was able to “separate a small amount of plutonium.”The report did not specify the amount, but it appeared to be less than the approximately 7 pounds required to make a nuclear bomb.
The confidential report also said Libya “imported nuclear material and conducted a wide variety of nuclear activities which it had failed to report” to the IAEA as required by agreements with the agency, diplomats told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The report was prepared by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei ahead of an agency board of governors’ meeting next month. A separate report on Iran is due within days.
• LIBYA: Maps, facts and figures
Revelations that Libya was able to process plutonium shed new light on how far the country was able to progress in its secret weapons program.
Libya announced in December it engaged in researching programs of mass destruction and promised to scrap them. While U.S. and British intelligence spoke of a fairly advanced program, the IAEA initially described Libya’s nuclear activities as at the beginning stages.
Much of Libya’s activity focused on enriching uranium, the report said. That — along with producing plutonium — is one way to develop the nuclear material used in warheads.
