According to the UN nuclear watchdog, 2.5 tons of natural uranium has gone missing in Libya, raising concerns about the potential use of the dangerous material.
The alarming news came from the IAEA following a planned inspection to a storage facility in Libya. The watchdog revealed the loss of about 10 drums of natural uranium.
Natural uranium cannot be immediately used in weapons production or in nuclear reactors, but each ton of natural uranium, if obtained by a group with the technological means and resources, can be refined to 5.6kg of radioactive fuel or explosives. The enrichment process typically requires the metal to be converted into a gas, then later spun in centrifuges to reach the levels needed. The technologies needed for this are controlled by global watchdogs, but their capabilities are still limited.
The incident has attracted the attention of experts from around the world, calling for even tighter control over radioactive materials that can be used as weapons.