Free Republic

TOKYO -- North Korea provided about 45 tons of "yellowcake" uranium to Syria in September 2007 for production of fuel for an undeclared nuclear reactor, diplomatic and military sources knowledgeable on North Korean issues said Saturday. But the shipment was followed shortly by an Israeli air strike targeting the reactor and the uranium involved is believed to have been transferred to Iran around last summer, according to a Western diplomatic source.

A Canadian company has purchased 550 tons of Iraqi uranium concentrate worth $90 milllion. Sakatoon-based uranium producer Cameco Corp., the world's largest producer of uranium, won the contract last year. But although the Iraqi cabinet only approved the sale on Tuesday, the last remains of the country's uranium concentrate or "yellow cake" had already been secretly transported to a Canadian port in July 2008 with US support. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told AFP on Tuesday that since the country has signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it no longer needs this material accrued by former dictator Saddam Hussein, and the...

The US has revealed that it removed more than 1.7 metric tons of radioactive material from Iraq in a secret operation last month. "This operation was a major achievement," said US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham in a statement. He said it would keep "potentially dangerous nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists." Along with 1.77 metric tons of enriched uranium, about 1,000 "highly radioactive sources" were also removed. The material was taken from a former nuclear research facility on 23 June, after being packaged by 20 experts from the US Energy Department's secret laboratories. It was flown out of...