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Iraq
Iraq's seized N-material no threat, says IAEA
2014-07-12
I'm relieved. Aren't you relieved?
The UN atomic agency said on Thursday it believed nuclear material Iraq said had been seized by insurgents was "low grade" and did not pose a significant security risk.

Iraq told the United Nations in a July 8 letter that the nuclear materials had been taken from a university in the country's north. It appealed for help to "stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad".

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "is aware of the notification from Iraq and is in contact to seek further details", IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said.

"On the basis of the initial information we believe the material involved is low grade and would not present a significant safety, security or nuclear proliferation risk," she said. "Nevertheless, any loss of regulatory control over nuclear and other radioactive materials is a cause for concern."
No, really?
Iraq's UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the letter that nearly 40kg of uranium compounds were kept at Mosul University. "Terrorist groups have seized control of nuclear material at the sites that came out of the control of the state," he said.
"Hey Abdul, what's in this canister?"
"I dunno, Mahmoud, open it up and see!"
However, a US government source said the materials were not believed to be enriched uranium and therefore would be difficult to use to manufacture into a nuclear weapon. Olli Heinonen, a former IAEA chief inspector, said that if the material came from a university it could be laboratory chemicals or radiation shielding, consisting of natural or depleted uranium.

"You cannot make a nuclear explosive from this amount, but all uranium compounds are poisonous," Heinonen said. "This material is also not 'good' enough for a dirty bomb."
But likely good enough to scare the pants off an entire population...
Citing UN investigations dating back ten years or more, Heinonen said there should be no enriched uranium in Mosul. The Vienna-based IAEA helped dismantle Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme in the 1990s — during Heinonen's three decades there.

Any loss or theft of highly enriched uranium, plutonium or other types of radioactive material is potentially serious as militants could try to use them to make a crude nuclear device or a "dirty bomb", experts say.

Posted by:Steve White

#3  For a moment I was concerned but now that the IAEA has said the risk is insignificant I can relax.
Posted by: irishrageboy   2014-07-12 16:06  

#2  The IAEA forgets our geniuses in the EPA and OSHA have a zero tolerance standard for radiation contamination. Any twitch of the Geiger counter requires a clean up, even the most low-grade nuke material would, under those rules, require a massive and expensive cleanup...

Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

Of course, the clandestine program didn't fit the narrative on the left so they are hoping the gradual trickling out of information that proves Iraq had WMD will pass right by and people will not notice...much like the "insecticide" that permanently disabled the squad of Marines.
Posted by: Bill Clinton   2014-07-12 13:28  

#1  The Vienna-based IAEA helped dismantle Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme in the 1990s — during Heinonen's three decades there.

Clandestini nuclear programme? Was the evil Hiterbush right after all? Was conflict justified? Was Saddam actually attempting to acquire the bomb? I am so confused.
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-07-12 07:14  

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