THE IAEA, TUWAITHA AND BUSHBOTS

Every so often, I come across delusional claims about what kind of nuclear material Saddam had at his Tuwaitha facility. The usual lie is that there were 1.8 tons of "enriched uranium" and that alone was a WMD. The truth is far different. The 1.8 tons were enriched for use in a nuclear reactor and contained about 4% of U-235, the stuff that explodes. A nuclear weapon requires material that is at least 85% U-235.

A new one I came across today was that the material was not under seal. Here's the truth:

Vienna, 11 April 2003 - "I have written yesterday to the United States Government asking that it ensure the security and safety of all the nuclear material there, which has been under IAEA seal since 1991. I indicated that until our inspectors return to Iraq, the U.S. has responsibility for maintaining security at this important storage facility," said Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General of the IAEA.