According to reports from several news agencies, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the United Nations has stated that roughly 2.3 tones of natural uranium had disappeared from a location in Libya that is not under the jurisdiction of the government. This week, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, revealed to the member states of the organization that inspectors reported that 10 barrels holding uranium ore concentrate had gone missing and “were not present as previously disclosed” at the facility in Libya.
According to Reporters and Agence France-Presse, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will carry out additional activities “to clarify the circumstances of the removal of the nuclear material and its current location.” This was stated in a statement that the organization released on Wednesday, but it did not provide any further information on the location of the nuclear material. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that “the loss of information regarding the existing location of nuclear material may constitute a radiological danger as well as nuclear security problems,” adding that “complicated logistics” were necessary to access the area. After having covert conversations with the United States and the United Kingdom, Libya in 2003, under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi, relinquished its effort to develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. While Libya didn’t make much headway in its efforts to develop a nuclear weapon, the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi was able to acquire centrifuges that could enrich uranium as well as knowledge on the construction of a nuclear bomb.
After an uprising that was supported by NATO and the overthrow of Gaddafi in 2011, the nation has been plagued by political problems, and rival militias have formed opposing coalitions that are supported by outside powers. Control of the country’s government is still divided between two factions: one in the east, which is supported by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, and another in the west, which is officially an interim administration based in Tripoli, the country’s capital. The most recent big armed battles didn’t conclude until the year 2020, and small-scale combat is still going on now.
