Missing Libyan Uranium Found Near Border with Chad

Ten barrels containing about 2.5 tons of natural Uranium reported missing by UN’s nuclear watchdog in Libya, has been found near the border with Chad, according to forces in the war-scarred country’s east.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had reported their disappearance earlier this week. The director general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, told the organization’s member states that inspectors on Tuesday found that the 10 drums “were not present as previously declared.”

General Khaled al-Mahjoub, leader of renegade commander Khalifa Haftar’s communications division, said later that day that the containers of uranium had been recovered “barely 5km” from where they had been stored in southern Libya.

Natural uranium cannot 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 reportedly be refined to 5.6kg of weapons-grade material over time.