LIBYA: Exclusive Reuters video reveals suspected uranium in Libya's southern city of Sabha

Record ID: 817159

  • Title: LIBYA: Exclusive Reuters video reveals suspected uranium in Libya's southern city of Sabha
  • Date: 27th September 2011
  • Summary: SABHA, LIBYA (SEPTEMBER 25, 2011) (REUTERS) WAREHOUSE COMPLEX MOHAMMED AL-AJILI FROM LIBYAN RADIATION PROTECTION SOCIETY, WEARING PROTECTIVE SUIT AND WALKING IN AREA AL-AJILI ENTERING WAREHOUSE VARIOUS OF AL-AJILI IN WAREHOUSE INSPECTING BLUE BARRELS PLASTIC SACKS CONTAINING WHITE POWDER, TIED WITH YELLOW TAPE INDICATING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL BLUE BARRELS PILED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER BLUE BARREL WITH YELLOW TAPE INDICATING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL PROTECTIVE SUIT, GAS MASK AND PROTECTIVE FOOTWEAR ON OFFICE FLOOR GAS MASK ON FLOOR PROTECTIVE GEAR ON FLOOR YELLOW TAPE INDICATING RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL VARIOUS OF PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT ON FLOOR MOHAMMED AL-AJILI IN WAREHOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED AL-AJILI FROM LIBYAN RADIATION PROTECTION SOCIETY, SAYING: "The store in front of us contains natural uranium, which of course is one of the stages towards making uranium. It is not enriched. This uranium contains a maximum concentration of 238." IDENTITY BADGE BELONGING TO MOHAMMED AL-AJILI (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED AL-AJILI FROM LIBYAN RADIATION PROTECTION SOCIETY, SAYING: "What we have now can be used for uranium bars that can be used to make heavy water." VARIOUS OF BLUE BARRELS IN WAREHOUSE AL-AJILI WEARING PROTECTIVE SUIT, WALKING IN WAREHOUSE COMPLEX
  • Embargoed: 12th October 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVA6J5HBRZGW55RD6C0I3MMJFZ98
  • Story Text: A warehouse complex in southern Libya appears to have been used by the country's former regime as a storage site for radioactive materials.
    Video recorded in Sabha on Sunday (September 25) shows warehouses containing what would appear to be radioactive material as well as gas masks and other protective clothing.
    Mohammed al-Ajili, a nuclear engineer who said he had degrees from universities in Libya and the UK, toured the warehouse complex.
    "The store in front of us contains natural uranium, which of course is one of the stages towards making uranium. It is not enriched. This uranium contains a maximum concentration of 238," he said.
    "What we have now can be used for uranium bars that can be used to make heavy water," he added.
    The enriched uranium required for use in atomic reactors or weapons is produced in centrifuges that spin uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6) at high speeds. The UF6 is derived from yellow cake, a concentrate from mined uranium ore.
    The U.N. atomic agency confirmed on Thursday (September 22) that Gaddafi's government had stored raw uranium near Sabha. The nuclear watchdog also said there was yellow cake stored in drums at a site near Sabha, which Libya had previously declared to the IAEA.
    Meanwhile on Saturday (September 24), Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) said its forces had found suspected internationally banned weapons near the towns of Sabha and Wadan, but gave no details about them.
    At a news conference in Benghazi, Mustafa Abdel Jalil said the interim government would seek the help of local and international experts to get rid of the weapons safely.
    The new government says it is consolidating its grip on Sabha and other oasis towns in the south of Libya which had sided with former strongman Muammar Gaddafi.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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