U.S. shifted uranium without U.N. approval

By EDITH M. LEDERER
The Associated Press

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The nearly 2 tons of low-enriched uranium and about 1,000 highly radioactive items transferred to the United States last month had been placed under seal by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the sprawling Tuwaitha nuclear complex, 12 miles south of Baghdad, the officials said.

"The American authorities just informed us of their intention to remove the materials, but they never sought authorization from us," said Gustavo Zlauvinen, head of the agency's New York office.

However, U.S. nuclear authorities said last night they had Iraqi approval and didn't need U.N. authorization to move the material.

"We are in custody of the material only, and we have the permission of the Iraqi government to take this out of the country," said Paul Longsworth, deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation in the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration.

U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham disclosed the secret airlift from Iraq on Tuesday as "a major achievement" in an attempt to "keep potentially dangerous nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists."

The material was taken to an undisclosed Energy Department laboratory for further analysis.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in a letter to the Security Council circulated yesterday that the U.S. informed the agency June 19, 2003, that "due to security concerns," it intended to transfer some nuclear material stored at Tuwaitha to the United States.

According to the letter, the United States informed the IAEA on June 30 that approximately 1.8 tons of uranium, enriched to a level of 2.6 percent, 6.6 pounds of low-enriched uranium and about 1,000 highly radioactive sources had been transferred June 23.

A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was some concern about the legality of the U.S. transfer because the nuclear material belonged to Iraq and was under the IAEA's control and supervision.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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