DRC uranium to be analysed
2004-03-25 19:36
Kinshasha - Experts from the United States will on Friday visit a Nuclear Research Centre (Cren) where several dozen samples of enriched uranium are stocked in Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Scientific Research Minister Gerard Kamanda said.
The lead and stainless steel alloy casings holding the samples all appear to come from the United States, Kamanda said on Thursday. The uranium stored at the Cren has been seized over the course of four years, he said.
Earlier this week, a DRC atomic energy specialist said that a blend of enriched uranium 235 and 238 was detected in two seized samples. These materials could be used to make a so-called "dirty bomb", he said, but not an atomic one.
The shell casings will not be opened at once, Kamanda said on Thursday. The first step will be to decipher the writing on them.
The DRC's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) representative, Fortunat Lumu, had said on Tuesday, two US experts were in Kinshasa and "will at the end of the week or the beginning of next week" open two casings.
In all, security forces have seized about 50 such casings, weighing between 50kg and 100kg. Similar finds have been made in neighbouring Zambia, Tanzania and Uganda, Kamanda said.
- AFP