MOSCOW, July 10 (RIA Novosti) – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that uranium from an Iraqi lab recently seized by ISIS militants is supposedly low-grade and does not pose any threat, Reuters reported Thursday.
“On the basis of the initial information we believe the material involved is low-grade and would not present a significant safety, security or nuclear proliferation risk," the IAEA spokesperson Gill Tudor said.
According to Tudor, the atomic agency is aware of the letter sent by the Iraqi government on July 8, notifying the UN of the terrorists seizing a chemical weapons site. The IAEA “…is in contact to seek further details," Tudor added.
Tuesday, Iraq's UN Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stating that around 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of uranium compounds that are kept at Mosul University had been seized by extremists.
In his letter Alhakim noted that the chemicals "…can be used in manufacturing weapons of mass destruction." According to the diplomat, there is a risk that uranium might be illegally exported from the country. A source in the US government also told Reuters that the materials from the captured lab are unlikely to be used for producing chemical weapons as they are low-grade.
