2.5 tons of uranium found in Libya after disappearance

According to the Libyan National Army (LNA), the 2.5 tons of uranium that disappeared in Libya have turned up again. The ten barrels of uranium ore concentrate were found about five kilometers from where they were originally stored, LNA spokesman Chaled Mahjub said on Thursday.

The camp was located near the border with Chad and was sealed by the UN nuclear regulatory agency IAEA in 2020. Mahjub suggested that thieves from Chad had robbed the camp and later left the barrels.

The IAEA informed its member states on Wednesday that the uranium could no longer be found. This was found on Tuesday during a review by IAEA experts. It was not disclosed where exactly the review took place in Libya. On Thursday, the UN agency said it was trying to verify reports of the find.

A total of ten containers with so-called yellowcake were missing, explained IAEA Director Rafael Grossi in the letter to the member countries. Additional checks would now be made "to clarify the circumstances of the disappearance of the nuclear material and its current whereabouts".

Yellowcake (yellow cake) is uranium compounds in the form of yellow-orange, coarse powder. It can be used in a further processed form for nuclear power plants and in a higher enriched form for the construction of nuclear weapons.

Libya abandoned its nuclear weapons development program in 2003 under longtime ruler Muammar al-Gaddaffi. Chaos has reigned since his fall in 2011, and the country has repeatedly been shaken by severe violence.