Contaminated Scrap Missing From Iraq

The chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said some equipment, contaminated scrap and even buildings monitored for radioactive materials had vanished in Iraq, according to a letter circulated Wednesday.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said in the letter to the U.N. Security Council that it was not clear whether the removal of items was the result of looting in the aftermath of last year’s U.S.-led invasion of Iraq or “part of systematic efforts to rehabilitate some of the locations.”

He said a review of satellite imagery of sites the agency had monitored showed “extensive removal of equipment and in some instances removal of entire buildings.”

He said in the April 11 letter that the United States government had “been informed of these observations and clarifications are expected.”

The Bush administration barred U.N. nuclear, biological, chemical and missile inspectors from Iraq after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein’s government. It deployed its own teams in search of weapons of mass destruction. So far, none have been found.

ElBaradei said that visits to other countries also showed that “large quantities of scrap, some of it contaminated” had been transferred out of Iraq from sites monitored by the IAEA.

“These activities may have a significant impact on the agency’s continuity of knowledge of Iraq’s remaining nuclear-related capabilities and raise a concern with regards to the proliferation risk associated with dual-use material and equipment disappearing to unknown destinations,” he wrote.