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Here are some old articles that might be of interest. ____________________________________________
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,955413,00.html Nuclear watchdog fears terrorist dirty bomb after looting at al-Tuwaitha Wednesday May 14, 2003
United Nations nuclear inspectors, barred from Iraq by Washington, are increasingly worried that the widespread looting and ransacking of Iraq's nuclear facilities may result in terrorists building a radioactive "dirty bomb". The inspectors' concerns are shared internationally and the British government has reportedly offered to raise the matter with Washington to try to get agreement on a return of the UN nuclear inspectors to Iraq.
The main worry revolves around the fate of at least 200 radioactive isotopes which were stored at the sprawling al-Tuwaitha nuclear complex, 15 miles south of Baghdad. It has seen widespread looting, and reports from Baghdad speak of locals making off with barrels of raw uranium and the isotopes which are meant for medical or industrial use.
"If this happened anywhere else there would be national outrage and it would be the highest priority," said a senior source at the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.
"The radioactive sources, some very potent ones, could get on to the black market and into the hands of terrorists planning dirty-bomb attacks," said Melissa Fleming, an IAEA spokeswoman.
<snip>Experts are muttering that the US, as the occupying power in Iraq, is now technically in breach of the non-proliferation treaty. There is a fear that the occupation, ostensibly to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, could result in more such weapons being created. <more>
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http://power.about.com/library/weekly/aa050503a.htm Power/Energy with Andre Titarenko Iraq Nuclear Sites Looting Updated May 11, 2003 OUR COMMENT
<snip>Chronologically the first reason to attack Iraq that was provided by the USA Administration was intelligence related to development of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) by Saddam Hussein. Another reason was terrorism. There were changes of mind, but none of these reasons was ever dismissed completely. Being formerly involved with nuclear disarmament in another part of the world I had in my mind very clear picture of the USA Marines taking the control of whatever is left out there in the nuclear field after the bombing first hand, maybe even airlifted to do so. They certainly will be armed with detailed roadmaps, satellite pictures, floormaps and guidance, and will keep everyone away from known locations of fusion materials no matter what. Well…
First reports about possible looting of nuclear materials in Iraq dates back to April 11, when an anonymous source told ABC that IAEA seals on the drums with Uranium at Al-Tuwaitha facility near Baghdad, were broken. Drums there contained about 1.8 tons of Uranium (not weapon-grade, but probably fine to build “dirty bomb”). There was a lot of highly active materials other than Uranium there too. The initial looters could be local ( looking to get at least something for their families and homes), but they sure knew what is hidden behind the fence of Al-Tuwaitha. It was bombed not once (for the first time in 1981), and they must have had a lot of “word from mouth” about deadly radiation out there, etc. Only a very brave or a very stupid local guy will go looting there. Even if this happens, a sealed drum with Uranium is not as attractive a looting object as armchair, TV or freezer for an "average guy". If someone targets it, and breaks the seal, most likely he knows perfectly well what he is looking for, and who is the likely buyer for it. If by chance someone has broken the seals on the drums out of stupid curiosity, by now he has probably put pieces together and is looking for a buyer for stolen Uranium.
<snip>Al-Tuwaitha is not the only Iraq nuclear site. Some facilities are in and near Mosul, in the territory that was invaded by Kurds form Northern Iraq. Please bear in mind that the only operational Al-Qaeda training camp in Iraq existed on the territory controlled by Kurds in Northern Iraq, and Kurds were generally OK with neighborhood such as this. Kurds do cooperate with still sparce USA troops in the region, but so far there was no reports available about securing the al-Jazirah enrichment facility near Mosul.<more>
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http://www.msnbc.com/news/912073.asp?0cv=KB10 WMDs for the Taking? While U.S. troops pushed on to Baghdad, Iraqis were looting radioactive materials from once protected sites May 19 issue — From the very start, one of the top U.S. priorities in Iraq has been the search for weapons of mass destruction. Weren’t WMDs supposed to be what the war was about? Even so, no one has yet produced conclusive evidence that Iraq was maintaining a nuclear, biological or chemical (NBC) arsenal.
<snip>Some of the lapses are frightening. The well-known Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center, about 12 miles south of Baghdad, had nearly two tons of partially enriched uranium, along with significant quantities of highly radioactive medical and industrial isotopes, when International Atomic Energy Agency officials made their last visit in January. By the time U.S. troops arrived in early April, armed guards were holding off looters—but the Americans only disarmed the guards, Al Tuwaitha department heads told NEWSWEEK. “We told them, ‘This site is out of control. You have to take care of it’,” says Munther Ibrahim, Al Tuwaitha’s head of plasma physics. “The soldiers said, ‘We are a small group. We cannot take control of this site’.” As soon as the Americans left, looters broke in. The staff fled; when they returned, the containment vaults’ seals had been broken, and radioactive material was everywhere.
U.S. officers say the center had already been ransacked before their troops arrived. They didn’t try to stop the looting, says Colonel Madere, because “there was no directive that said do not allow anyone in and out of this place.” Last week American troops finally went back to secure the site. Al Tuwaitha’s scientists still can’t fully assess the damage; some areas are too badly contaminated to inspect. “I saw empty uranium-oxide barrels lying around, and children playing with them,” says Fadil Mohsen Abed, head of the medical-isotopes department. Stainless-steel uranium canisters had been stolen. Some were later found in local markets and in villagers’ homes. “We saw people using them for milking cows and carrying drinking water,” says Ibrahim. The looted materials could not make a nuclear bomb, but IAEA officials worry that terrorists could build plenty of dirty bombs with some of the isotopes that may have gone missing. Last week NEWSWEEK visited a total of eight sites on U.N. weapons-inspection lists. Two were guarded by U.S. troops. Armed looters were swarming through two others. Another was evidently destroyed many years ago. American forces had not yet searched the remaining three.<more>
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=564&u=/nm/20030521/ts_nm/iraq_un_nuclear_usa_dc_3&printer=1 U.S.: IAEA Team Could Inspect Iraqi Nuke Site Wed May 21, 3:02 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States proposed a joint investigation with the International Atomic Energy Agency of Iraq (news - web sites)'s Tuwaitha nuclear research center after reports of looting and a mission could go in a week or so, a U.S. official said Wednesday.
The Vienna-based IAEA earlier said Washington had offered a limited return of its inspectors to Iraq two months after they left on the eve of the U.S.-led war, but gave few details on the nature of the offer or the timing of a return.
"We are making arrangements with the International Atomic Energy Agency to conduct a joint inspection of the safeguarded storage area near Tuwaitha. Details and timing are not set yet but we're looking to do this as soon as arrangements can be made," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
Asked how quickly a team might go to Iraq, where the IAEA has said a nuclear contamination emergency may be developing because of the reports of looting at Tuwaitha, a senior U.S. official who asked not to be named said "maybe a week." <more>
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http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-me/2003/may/21/052108859.html May 21, 2003 at 6:47:39 PDT U.S.: Barrels Missing From Iraq Nuke Site
Some 20 percent of the known radioactive materials stored at Iraq's largest nuclear facility are unaccounted for, and U.S. nuclear experts have found radioactive patches on the ground where looters dumped out barrels believed to contain hazardous materials.
However, a senior commander said the great majority of the dangerous waste at the Tuwaitha nuclear complex was still secure and was not leaking radiation.
<snip>The dormant Tuwaitha plant, once considered the heart of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program, has been repeatedly trashed by scavengers. It hasn't been operational for years. The Iraqis had been using it to store declared nuclear materials that were prohibited and sealed by the U.N. nuclear agency.
While the sprawling complex was considered one of the top sites where evidence of weapons of mass destruction might be found, it was left unguarded for days during the war. By the time weapons teams showed up to inspect the facility, so much had been destroyed that it was impossible to know what was missing.
<snip>The IAEA has been sharply critical of the U.S. handling of the site. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday he would be willing to let members of the IAEA back into Iraq to assist them at nuclear sites. He couldn't say when or how the IAEA teams might work there, but said their previous knowledge and expertise would be welcome.
It was the first time U.S. officials have said the IAEA would be able to return to Iraq and was likely to be seen in the arms control community as an acknowledgment that the Americans need help. <more>
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,960445,00.html US dirty bomb fears after nuclear looting Wednesday May 21, 2003
<snip>However, the apparent disappearance of radioactive material from Tuwaitha - the Iraqi nuclear research centre near Baghdad sealed by the UN after the last Gulf war - after looters ransacked its network of bunkers during and immediately after the recent war, has caused alarm at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Earlier this week, the agency's director, Mohammed El Baradei, said he was "deeply concerned" by the reports from Tuwaitha.
According to some of those reports, uranium was simply emptied on to the ground from metal containers, which were then taken for domestic use, such as milking cows.
IAEA officials are concerned that the uranium could fall into the hands of terrorists who could use it to build a so-called dirty bomb, whereby conventional explosives are used to scatter radioactive nuclear material.
The Pentagon had opposed the return of UN inspectors, believing that they would interfere with its own investigation, but Mr Rumsfeld indicated yesterday that that opposition had been dropped.<more>
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http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/US/topoff_reportcard030516.html Ready for the Worst? Sober Lessons Learned From Weeklong Terror Drills
W A S H I N G T O N, May 16— More than 1,000 people would have died of disease in Chicago and untold numbers would have been poisoned by radiation in Seattle had this week's national dress rehearsal for a terror attack been real — and some experts say that shows the United States isn't ready for the real thing.
"I think you can rest assured that this thing wasn't an absolutely flawless execution," Phil Anderson, a senior fellow and director of the Homeland Security Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ABCNEWS.
<snip>In Seattle, hundreds of people would have been injured or sickened after a mock radiological or "dirty" bomb went off. Communications between emergency agencies were pushed to the limit. It took an hour and a half for four surrounding counties to find enough buses to transport residents around the disaster zone and to safety. Despite the delay, Ridge praised the local officials who role-played by setting up an alternative bus network so that residents could move around the community without being exposed to "radioactivity."
The government had trouble quickly putting in place a system that could reliably track the radioactive plume from the supposed dirty bomb.
"We learned that we can get resources in Seattle to the scene," said Ridge, who oversaw the exercise. "But I think we also learned we may need to get them there quicker, and act upon that information quicker.
<snip>"Really we have to get policy makers deciding how they're going to answer some of the big, tough questions," he said. "When do you call in the military, whether you call in the military at all? What is the situation with respect to quarantine? And what impact does that have on the civil liberties of the American people?" <more>
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