UN nuclear watchdog: 2.5 tons of uranium missing in Libya

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JON GAMBRELL today

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Some 2.5 tons of natural uranium stored in a site in war-torn Libya have gone missing, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said Thursday, raising safety and proliferation concerns.

Natural uranium can’t immediately be used for energy production or bomb fuel, as the enrichment process typically requires the metal to be converted into a gas, then later spun in centrifuges to reach the levels needed.

However, each ton of natural uranium — if obtained by a group with the technological means and resources — can be refined to 5.6 kilograms (12 pounds) of weapons-grade material over time, experts say. That makes finding the missing metal important for nonproliferation experts.

In a statement, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said its director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, informed member states Wednesday about the missing uranium.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/libya-missing-natural-uranium-iaea-proliferation-nuclear-b436625627f1f63849d54b3a262a5241

[Warpy]

1. Kewords: "natural uranium"

I imagine the Libyans are pretty angry about this, it was most likely destined for a future energy plant.

The refining process as described in the article makes it sound like bathtub chemistry. It is not.

[OneCrazyDiamond]

8. I wonder if natural uranium

Means this
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_uranium

The isotopes are in natural purportions as opposed to enriched.

[Warpy]

9. I would think so

since it didn't say "uranium ore."

[Renew Deal]

2. This is the way every good action film starts

[FredGarvin]

3. Benghazi?

Faux News gonna have a field day with this one.
And it's relevance to Hillary's calling off the US military's response to the embassy attack.

"Follow the uranium" is going to be the narrative...

[DENVERPOPS]

4. Wow Fred

Those were my exact thoughts too!!!!!!!!! Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi.........Hillary was directly responsible.............

[DENVERPOPS]

5. Iran????????? Russia????????? China?????????

That quantity of ore had to leave a paper trail of some kind......

And, it had to go to a country large enough to already have the technology and machinery to be capable of processing it

[CloudWatcher]

6. Refining it has always been the hard part

Converting raw ore to something useful has always been the hard part.

There are unverified reports the ore has been found:

Libya uranium: Missing barrels recovered, say eastern forces

Armed forces in eastern Libya say they have found about two and a half tonnes of uranium ore that were reported missing by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Ten drums containing the ore were found near the border with Chad, said the head of the forces' media unit.

The IAEA said it was "actively working to verify" media reports.

[Backseat Driver]

7. Just saying...some fires need to be extra hot

And a whole handmade branded industry of about 100 facilities was reportedly shutting down its 24/7 fires because of the exorbitant cost of fuel to make its products...(natural gas) so they'd have a motive to steal and trade valuable metal powder material(s) they may also use in smaller quantities as an ingredient due to a resurgence of interest in their branded, often vintage but again becoming popular with collectors. How would 2.5 tonnes of natural uranium be stored? With the brand and the jobs ending, desperate times, CoVid followed by Ukraine/Russian "special operation (LOL) under sanction, it might mean desperate measures against a previous small poundage supplier? This solution might have been attractive, stored right across the sea...and I'd suppose there would be the cry from watchdog orgs to alert and propose "To investigate all the usual culprits" while this one might not qualify as one of the globe's usual nefarious ones, maybe?

https://usaartnews.com/news/venices-storied-murano-glassmakers-are-shutting-down-their-studios-amid-the-energy-crisissome-fear-it-may-be-forever

Interesting--that announcement about finding the barrels in Chad...wonder who gets to keep the evidence now.

[Wonder Why]

10. Libyan military says they found it - at Mar-a-Lago. Hidden under classified documents.

[JCMach1]

11. KSA, or Emiratis absconded with it... Also don't rule out stolen by Eric Prince and sold to highest

bidder. Prince was/is very, very active in Libya.