Friday, May 16, 2003
U.S. Plans Inspection of Iraq Nuke Site
From: spliffslips
Military Care Packages War Updates
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U.S. Plans Inspection of Iraq Nuke Site
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By DAFNA LINZER
Associated Press Writer
May 16, 2003, 1:53 PM EDT
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A team of Americans is preparing to assess damage at Iraq's largest nuclear facility, the U.S. military announced Friday, weeks after the site was plundered by looters.
The U.S. handling of the dormant Tuwaitha plant, once considered the heart of Saddam Hussein's nuclear ambitions, has drawn criticism from international experts angered that scavengers and villagers have been able to enter the complex and tamper with radioactive materials stored there.
Military planners overseeing the U.S.-led weapons search in Iraq have said they didn't anticipate the looting and are unable to tell what is missing from Tuwaitha or many other suspected weapons sites.
The United States chose to conduct its weapons hunt alone, without help from U.N. inspectors who, in the run up to the war, did not find evidence that Iraq had the kind of unconventional weapons Washington says it went to war to destroy.
Saddam's regime maintained for years that it no longer had weapons of mass destruction. So far, U.S. weapons hunters also have not found any chemical or biological weapons or conclusive evidence that such programs existed in recent years.
Since the war began March 20, U.S. teams have been scouring Iraq for any sign of such weapons, visiting more than 70 suspected sites.
A survey team from the U.S. military has visited Tuwaitha, 30 miles outside Baghdad, but it didn't enter the site. A treaty signed by the United States gives the International Atomic Energy Agency exclusive legal authority to inspect the facility.
Tuwaitha hasn't been operational for years. The Iraqis used it to store declared nuclear materials that were sealed by the U.N. nuclear agency.
According to a statement issued Friday by U.S. Central Command, a nuclear team operating under the U.S. Army's V Corps "will soon begin a detailed assessment of the former Iraqi nuclear facility at Tuwaitha."
The statement did not specify when the assessment, which will review "the quantity and condition of the nuclear material stored there," would take place. But it said the Army's nuclear disablement team, which includes 11 soldiers trained in nuclear physics, engineering and radiation safety, "will not compromise any IAEA seals that remain in place."
Disturbing the silver-dollar-sized seals -- which carry a unique, fingerprint-like code that reveals tampering -- could be a violation of the atomic energy treaty the IAEA enforces.
David Albright, an U.S. nuclear expert who worked as a weapons inspector in Iraq during the 1990s, welcomed the assessment but said it should be conducted by the IAEA.
"Assessing the status of nuclear material at Tuwaitha is urgent to determining what nuclear material is missing and to ensure that remaining material is safely stored and adequately protected against theft or diversion," he said.
But he said the IAEA was the best choice for the job because its experts are "long familiar with Tuwaitha and the nuclear material at this site."
Mark Gwozdecky, a spokesman for the Vienna-based IAEA, said the agency was not consulted about the U.S. assessment.
IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei, whose teams had been monitoring 2 tons of enriched uranium and several tons of natural and depleted uranium stored there, has been sharply critical of the U.S. handling of Tuwaitha.
In the early days of the war, he urged the U.S. military to secure the area; earlier this month he asked to let him send a mission to the facility. He hasn't received a response, officials said.
Aside from posing a health risk, the missing materials could be valuable to terrorists or scientists willing to work for rogue states or militant groups targeting the United States and its allies.
By the time U.S. troops began guarding the entrance to the facility, villagers had already removed storage barrels and dumped out contents matching the description of uranium oxide. They filled the barrels with drinking water, and some have since reported health problems.
Iraq has about 1,000 sites where radioactive materials are used in industry or medicine, but Tuwaitha, where Iraqis worked on the final design of a nuclear bomb before the 1991 Gulf War, has drawn the most concern.
The Central Command statement said U.S. forces were continuing efforts "to improve security at the site and are working with former facility employees to communicate the hazard the site poses to unwary trespassers."
Copyright (c) 2003, The Associated Press
--------------------
This article originally appeared at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-iraq-nuclear-site,0,2973712.story
Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com
|
Military Care Packages War Updates
--------------------
U.S. Plans Inspection of Iraq Nuke Site
--------------------
By DAFNA LINZER
Associated Press Writer
May 16, 2003, 1:53 PM EDT
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A team of Americans is preparing to assess damage at Iraq's largest nuclear facility, the U.S. military announced Friday, weeks after the site was plundered by looters.
The U.S. handling of the dormant Tuwaitha plant, once considered the heart of Saddam Hussein's nuclear ambitions, has drawn criticism from international experts angered that scavengers and villagers have been able to enter the complex and tamper with radioactive materials stored there.
Military planners overseeing the U.S.-led weapons search in Iraq have said they didn't anticipate the looting and are unable to tell what is missing from Tuwaitha or many other suspected weapons sites.
The United States chose to conduct its weapons hunt alone, without help from U.N. inspectors who, in the run up to the war, did not find evidence that Iraq had the kind of unconventional weapons Washington says it went to war to destroy.
Saddam's regime maintained for years that it no longer had weapons of mass destruction. So far, U.S. weapons hunters also have not found any chemical or biological weapons or conclusive evidence that such programs existed in recent years.
Since the war began March 20, U.S. teams have been scouring Iraq for any sign of such weapons, visiting more than 70 suspected sites.
A survey team from the U.S. military has visited Tuwaitha, 30 miles outside Baghdad, but it didn't enter the site. A treaty signed by the United States gives the International Atomic Energy Agency exclusive legal authority to inspect the facility.
Tuwaitha hasn't been operational for years. The Iraqis used it to store declared nuclear materials that were sealed by the U.N. nuclear agency.
According to a statement issued Friday by U.S. Central Command, a nuclear team operating under the U.S. Army's V Corps "will soon begin a detailed assessment of the former Iraqi nuclear facility at Tuwaitha."
The statement did not specify when the assessment, which will review "the quantity and condition of the nuclear material stored there," would take place. But it said the Army's nuclear disablement team, which includes 11 soldiers trained in nuclear physics, engineering and radiation safety, "will not compromise any IAEA seals that remain in place."
Disturbing the silver-dollar-sized seals -- which carry a unique, fingerprint-like code that reveals tampering -- could be a violation of the atomic energy treaty the IAEA enforces.
David Albright, an U.S. nuclear expert who worked as a weapons inspector in Iraq during the 1990s, welcomed the assessment but said it should be conducted by the IAEA.
"Assessing the status of nuclear material at Tuwaitha is urgent to determining what nuclear material is missing and to ensure that remaining material is safely stored and adequately protected against theft or diversion," he said.
But he said the IAEA was the best choice for the job because its experts are "long familiar with Tuwaitha and the nuclear material at this site."
Mark Gwozdecky, a spokesman for the Vienna-based IAEA, said the agency was not consulted about the U.S. assessment.
IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei, whose teams had been monitoring 2 tons of enriched uranium and several tons of natural and depleted uranium stored there, has been sharply critical of the U.S. handling of Tuwaitha.
In the early days of the war, he urged the U.S. military to secure the area; earlier this month he asked to let him send a mission to the facility. He hasn't received a response, officials said.
Aside from posing a health risk, the missing materials could be valuable to terrorists or scientists willing to work for rogue states or militant groups targeting the United States and its allies.
By the time U.S. troops began guarding the entrance to the facility, villagers had already removed storage barrels and dumped out contents matching the description of uranium oxide. They filled the barrels with drinking water, and some have since reported health problems.
Iraq has about 1,000 sites where radioactive materials are used in industry or medicine, but Tuwaitha, where Iraqis worked on the final design of a nuclear bomb before the 1991 Gulf War, has drawn the most concern.
The Central Command statement said U.S. forces were continuing efforts "to improve security at the site and are working with former facility employees to communicate the hazard the site poses to unwary trespassers."
Copyright (c) 2003, The Associated Press
--------------------
This article originally appeared at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-iraq-nuclear-site,0,2973712.story
Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com
