http://www.ddinews.com/Internationa...dlines/Traces+of+plutonium+found+in+Egypt.htm
The UN atomic watchdog has discovered plutonium particles near an Egyptian nuclear facility and is trying to determine if they are evidence of a secret weapons program or simply the byproduct of peaceful research, diplomats said.
Speaking to a news agency, the diplomats warned against assuming Egypt might have violated the Nonproliferation Treaty by trying to separate plutonium, a substance used to make nuclear weapons. The traces could be from a cracked research reactor fuel element or have other, nonmilitary origins, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity.
“From time to time these things pop up in places they should not be at,†said a diplomat familiar with the investigations of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Most of the time, there is a reasonable answer,†he added.
Still, he said agency experts trying to determine the origin of the particles were not ruling out any possibilities until seeing the test results from several European laboratories analyzing the Egyptian samples.
The discovery of the particles was a reflection of more efficient controls by the IAEA member nations' nuclear activities over the past decade as it attempts to prevent proliferation either by rogue nations or black-market profiteers.
The controls include more pervasive environmental sampling, which is meant to trace particles of plutonium and enriched uranium — two alternate components of nuclear weapons.
Such tests have revealed traces of highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium in Iran — says the United States evidence, of a secret weapons program. While Iran insists it is working only to generate nuclear power.
A Vienna-based diplomat said on Friday that the agency's information was still too sketchy to firmly establish how old the Egyptian plutonium traces were. But he suggested they appeared to have been released into the environment no later than the 1980s.
Egypt appeared to turn away from the pursuit of a nuclear weapons program decades ago. The Soviet Union and China reportedly rebuffed its requests for nuclear arms in the 1960s, and by the 1970s, Egypt gave up the idea of building a plutonium production reactor and reprocessing plant.
Although having signed the Nonproliferation Treaty, Egypt has become one of its vocal critics, in recent years, mainly because of concerns over Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal and more recent fears about Iran's nuclear agenda.
Attempts to reach to diplomats for comment at Egyptian Embassy in Vienna after office hours on Friday were unsuccessful.
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Eh, interesting!
The UN atomic watchdog has discovered plutonium particles near an Egyptian nuclear facility and is trying to determine if they are evidence of a secret weapons program or simply the byproduct of peaceful research, diplomats said.
Speaking to a news agency, the diplomats warned against assuming Egypt might have violated the Nonproliferation Treaty by trying to separate plutonium, a substance used to make nuclear weapons. The traces could be from a cracked research reactor fuel element or have other, nonmilitary origins, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity.
“From time to time these things pop up in places they should not be at,†said a diplomat familiar with the investigations of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). “Most of the time, there is a reasonable answer,†he added.
Still, he said agency experts trying to determine the origin of the particles were not ruling out any possibilities until seeing the test results from several European laboratories analyzing the Egyptian samples.
The discovery of the particles was a reflection of more efficient controls by the IAEA member nations' nuclear activities over the past decade as it attempts to prevent proliferation either by rogue nations or black-market profiteers.
The controls include more pervasive environmental sampling, which is meant to trace particles of plutonium and enriched uranium — two alternate components of nuclear weapons.
Such tests have revealed traces of highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium in Iran — says the United States evidence, of a secret weapons program. While Iran insists it is working only to generate nuclear power.
A Vienna-based diplomat said on Friday that the agency's information was still too sketchy to firmly establish how old the Egyptian plutonium traces were. But he suggested they appeared to have been released into the environment no later than the 1980s.
Egypt appeared to turn away from the pursuit of a nuclear weapons program decades ago. The Soviet Union and China reportedly rebuffed its requests for nuclear arms in the 1960s, and by the 1970s, Egypt gave up the idea of building a plutonium production reactor and reprocessing plant.
Although having signed the Nonproliferation Treaty, Egypt has become one of its vocal critics, in recent years, mainly because of concerns over Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal and more recent fears about Iran's nuclear agenda.
Attempts to reach to diplomats for comment at Egyptian Embassy in Vienna after office hours on Friday were unsuccessful.
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Eh, interesting!
