On Wednesday, the United Nations nuclear agency said that around 2.5 tonnes of natural uranium had gone missing from a location in Libya. Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told the organization’s member nations on Tuesday that an investigation of the site revealed that 10 drums holding uranium ore concentrate “were not present as previously disclosed” at the location in Libya.
No details were revealed about the site
IAEA inspectors “found that 10 drums containing approximately 2.5 tonnes of natural uranium in the form of UOC (uranium ore concentrate) previously declared by (Libya) … as being stored at that location were not present at the location,” a one-page statement by Grossi said. The IAEA said that it will conduct further activities “to clarify the circumstances of the removal of the nuclear material and its current location”. However, no details were revealed about the site.
The inspection was originally scheduled for last year but had to be postponed due to the region’s security situation. According to Grossi’s secret statement, it was eventually carried out on Tuesday. Libya’s previous dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, abandoned a nuclear weapons development program in 2003. It received uranium enrichment centrifuges as well as nuclear weapon design information. With Gaddafi’s demise in 2011, the country has been engulfed in a political crisis. Many militia groups have formed rival coalitions with foreign governments’ support.
In early 2021, an UN-backed peace proposal established an interim administration in the country. It was only supposed to last until a December election that has yet to take place, and its legality is now being questioned.