Nuke component unearthed in Baghdad back yard

CNN ^ | 25 June 2003 | From David Ensor

[July 4th]

WASHINGTON (CNN) --The CIA has in its hands the critical parts of a key piece of Iraqi nuclear technology -- parts needed to develop a bomb program -- that were dug up in a back yard in Baghdad, CNN has learned.

[cwb]

"It isn't being called a smoking gun, because it isn't. Remnants of the Iraqi weapons program are all over the place. And calling a gas centrifuge that you could find in any cow college and even some high schools a 'smoking gun' would look pretty damn stupid."

If they were all over the place, they would've been found by now. Not to mention that Saddam was required to turn all of this over to the weapons inspectors years ago. I don't care what you find in any "cow college." Saddam was under orders as part of the cease-fire to present and destroy all remnants of his bio/chem/nuke program...and he obviously didn't. This is just one more example of the duplicity of his regime.

[Dog]

Here is the article...

Here.For the next two days, 24 hours a day, the helicopters were flying overhead," Arrak said.

Over the past week, armored vehicles and troops have surrounded the destroyed houses and the area where the vehicles were demolished, they said. On Sunday, helicopters landed nearby, unloading boxes of equipment. Villagers said Lahij, the smuggler coming from Mosul, was arrested on the road to Jordan on Wednesday morning, but they did not know the circumstances.

[jimbo123]

Hitlery Rotten: Curses! Foiled Again!

[VRWC_minion]

Nuke component unearthed in Baghdad back yard

From David Ensor
CNN Washington Bureau
Wednesday, June 25, 2003 Posted: 6:10 PM EDT (2210 GMT)

Parts of a gas centrifuge system for enriching uranium were dug up in Baghdad, Iraq. Story Tools           SPECIAL REPORT • Transition of Power • Life after War • CNN/Money: Rebuilding Iraq • War in Iraq • Special Report WHAT IS A CENTRIFUGE? A device that rotates at various speeds about a fixed, central point. It can separate liquids from solids or liquids of different densities. This process can be used to enrich uranium for use in a nuclear device. Source: NASA

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The CIA has in its hands the critical parts of a key piece of Iraqi nuclear technology -- parts needed to develop a bomb program -- that were dug up in a back yard in Baghdad, CNN has learned.

The parts were unearthed by Iraqi scientist Mahdi Obeidi who had hidden them in his back yard under a rose bush 12 years ago under orders from Qusay Hussein and Saddam Hussein's then son-in-law, Hussein Kamel.

U.S. officials emphasized this was not evidence Iraq had a nuclear weapon -- but it was evidence the Iraqis concealed plans to reconstitute their nuclear program as soon as the world was no longer looking.

The parts and documents Obeidi gave the CIA were shown exclusively to CNN at CIA headquarters in Virginia.

Obeidi told CNN the parts of a gas centrifuge system for enriching uranium were part of a highly sophisticated system he was ordered to hide so as to be ready to rebuild the bomb program at some time in the future.

"I have very important things at my disposal that I have been ordered to have, to keep, and I've kept them, and I don't want this to proliferate, because of its potential consequences if it falls in the hands of tyrants, in the hands of dictators or of terrorists," said Obeidi, who has been taken out of Iraq with the help of the U.S. government.

Centrifuges are drums or cylinders that spin at high speed and separate heavy and light molecules, allowing increasingly enriched uranium to be drawn off.

Former U.N. arms inspector David Kay, now in charge of the CIA search for unconventional weapons, started work two days ago in Baghdad. CNN spoke to him about the case over a secure teleconferencing line.

"It begins to tell us how huge our job is," Kay said. "Remember, his material was buried in a barrel behind his house in a rose garden. There's no way that that would have been discovered by normal international inspections. I couldn't have done it. My successors couldn't have done it."

CNN had this story last week but made a decision to withhold it at the request of the U.S. government, which cited safety and national security concerns.

The U.S. government told CNN the security and safety issues have been dealt with and there is no risk now in telling the story fully.

The gas centrifuge equipment dates to Iraq's pre-1991 efforts to build nuclear weapons.

Experts said the documents and pieces Obeidi gave the United States were the critical information and parts to restart a nuclear weapons program and would have saved Saddam's regime several years and as much as hundreds of millions of dollars for research.

Obeidi said he felt unsafe in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion and that he was getting pressure from different corners of the country.

He also said other Iraqi scientists were watching to see if he was safe after he cooperated with the U.S. government.

Now that he is safe, Obeidi said he believes other scientists would come forward with other components of Iraq's weapons program.

CNN National Correspondent Mike Boettcher contributed to this report.

[ContentiousObjector]

It is proof that prior to the FIRST gulf war Iraq had a weapons program, and proclaiming that is like annoucing bill clinton is a sex fiend, not much of a secret.

if anything it is proof that Iraq didn't have an active program at the time of the second gulf war, because if they didn't they wouldn't have left the stuff to rot in a guys back yard.

[madison10]

Right wing CNN???? You've got to be kidding! What to DUmmies think is Liberal enough for them? Al Jazeera?

[Calpernia]

hmmmm, centrifuges, lets see....

 

Attachment 3.
Destruction, removal and rendering harmless

3.1. Main equipment and materials used in Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme which were destroyed or rendered harmless under IAEA supervision

Time Period	Programme Activity	Equipment Location	Main Components	Destruction Method	Total Quantity
October - November 1991, IAEA-7/8	Gas centrifuge enrichment	Engineering Design Centre, Al Furat Centrifuge Production Facility	All detected centrifuge components and important related equipment were either removed by the Inspection teams, rendered harmless or destroyed, including: Centrifuge housings, aluminium rotor tubes, carbon fibre cylinders, complete rotor assemblies, unfinished maraging steal cylinders, molecular pumps, motor stators, bearings, frequency converters, balancing machines, centrifuge test jigs, complete oil centrifuges, oil centrifuge cylinders, centrifuge jackets, UF6 feeding system, miscellaneous parts of the machine tools, AINiCo and SmCo ring magnets, jig for MIG welder, mandrel for flow forming machine, electron beam welder fixture, rotating spindle and rnandrel for CNC machine tool, special collet and whirling head, specific fixtures for centrifuge production.	Mainly by crushing or flame cutting.	More than 1790 components and items.
	Electromagnetic Isotope Separation (EMIS)	Tamiya EMIS Facility, Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre, Daura (SEHEE) Amin (Um Al Maarik)	Vacuum chambers, coils, collectors, injector power supply, ion sources, iron systems, poles, coil-winding machines, and elements of machine tools.	Mainly by flame cutting.	More than 340 items.
	Reprocessing	Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre	Chopping machine, glow boxes, manipulators, cables for manipulators, mixer settlers, hot cells, dissolver.	The glove boxes were filled with cement. Mixer settlers were filled with epoxy resin. Hot cells, dissolver and chopping machine ware rendered harmless by cutting and removal of manipulators.	More than 40 items.
	Chemical isotope separation	Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre	Glass columns (10) and other items used in the chemical separation work.	Smashed.	More than 10 items.
January 1992, IAEA-9	Gas centrifuge enrichment	Engineering Design Centre, Al Furat Centrifuge Production Facility	Aluminium alloys in the form of tube extrusions (more than 500 tonnes), ferrite magnets, aluminium upper flange forgings (9,000), aluminium jacket ring forgings (9,000), bottom flanges (250).	Melting and mixing with lower grade materials. Ferrite magnets ware destroyed by crushing.	More than 500 tonnes of materials.
April - May 1992, IAEA-11/12	Weaponisation	Al Atheer Centre	Cold and hot isostatic presses, furnaces, plasma spray systems, machine tools, vacuum pumps, power supplies.	Flame cutting; demolition with explosives.	More than 50 items.
April and November 1992, IAEA-11/15	EMIS	Tarmiya EMIS Facility, Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre	Experimental EMIS magnet system with 9 double poles, coil winding machines and their accessories, HEPA filter elements and exhaust air filtration units.	Mainly by flame cutting. Filtration components were crushed.	More than 10 items and 285 filter elements and units.
November 1992, IAEA-15	Gas centrifuge enrichment	Engineering Design Centre	350- grade maraging steel rods and cylinders unilaterally destroyed by Iraq (76 t) were further adulterated by re-melting and diluting it with equal amounts of high carbon steel in Basra Foundry.	Melting and mixing with lower grade materials.	About 76 tonnes of maraging steel.

Note: Many items of the equipment used in the Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme were destroyed in the aerial bombardment (January-February 1991) and were confirmed by the IAEA as not recoverable or rendered harmless.

 

3.2. Main equipment and materials used in Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme removed by IAEA

Time Period	Programme Activity	Equipment Location	Main Components	Total Quantity
From October 1991 to April 1992, IAEA-7/8/9/11	Gas centrifuge enrichment, weaponisation, radiochemistry	Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre, Engineering Design Centre, Al Atheer Centre	Examples of major centrifuge components (rotor tubes, end caps, pin bearings, etc.), centrifuge rotors, HEPA air filters, computer codes, high-speed streak video cameras and their components, holding collar for the mandrel, beryllium metal, flow-forming roller, die used to manufacture the explosive lenses, parts of the CNC co-ordinate measurement machine.	More than 200 items.
Removal of the items after the departure from Iraq of the late Lt. General Hussein Kamel
From September 1995 to July 1997, IAEA-28/29/30.5	Gas centrifuge enrichment, weaponisation	Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre, Engineering Design Centre, Al Atheer Centre, Al Qa Qaa GE	AINiCo and CoSm ring magnets, maraging steel (17 tonnes), spools of high modulus and high tensile strength carbon fibres, cylindrical initiator, thermal batteries, wave front shape measurement device, tape with back-up of the computer codes, 32-point electrical distributor for firing set, detonators and ionisation probes, krytrons, 8-channel ionisation probe analyser.	More than 20 items and more than 200 ring magnets.

 

3.3. Main buildings of the sites directly involved in Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme destroyed under IAEA supervision

Destruction Date	Site	Destroyed Buildings	Destruction Method
April-May 1992, IAEA-11/12	Al Atheer Centre	• Carbide (uranium machining), Bld. 55 • Casting (uranium metallurgy), Bld. 50 • Quality Control, Bld. 19 • Explosion Chamber, Bld. 18 (cutting with torches) • High Explosives Test Bunker, Bld. 33 • Physics (gas gun), Bld. 21 • Polymer (uranium metal processing), Bld. 84 • Powder Preparation, Bld. 82	Demolition with explosives. Bld. 33 was filled with concrete and scrap metal, the protective berm has been removed.
July-September 1992, IAEA-13/14	Tarmiya EMIS Facility	• Electrical Sub-Stations, Blds. 5, 38, 243 • EMIS Beta Separator Building, Bld. 245	Demolition with explosives/ heavy machinery.
July-September 1992, IAEA-13/14	Al Sharqat EMIS Facility	• Electrical Substations, Blds. B-20, B-27, B-29 • EMIS Beta separator building, Bld. B-21	Demolition with explosives/ heavy machinery.
November 1993, IAEA-22	Abu Skhair Mine	Abu Skhair uranium mine	Backfilled, shaft door welded and sealed.

Note: Electrical power supplies to the Tarmiya and Al Sharqat sites were reduced by an order of magnitude.

 

3.4. Main buildings of the sites directly involved in Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme destroyed in the aerial bombardment (January-February 1991)

Site	Buildings Destroyed
Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre	• Radiochemistry Laboratories (Bld. 9) *3 • Physics Department (Bld. 10B) *3 • Laboratory for Uranium Metal Preparation (Bld. 10) *1, *3 • IRT-5000 Reactor (Bld. 13) • Computer Hall and Offices (Bld. 13 part) • Electrical Substations (Blds. 14, 72, 84) • Radioisotope Production Department (Bld. 15A) *1 • Quality Control of Radioisotope Production Department (Bld. 15B) *1, *3 • LAMA Laboratories (Reprocessing), (Bld. 22) *3 • Experimental Workshop, Laser and Plasma Studies (Bld. 23) *1 • Tammuz-2 Reactor (Bld. 24) • Store and Workshop (Bld. 26) • Decontamination Laboratory (Bld. 27) • Chemical Coating Laboratory (Bld. 30) • Cooling Tower for Tammuz-2 Reactor (Bld. 31) • Radioactive Waste Treatment Station (RWTS, Bld. 35) • Calibration Laboratories and Decontamination Area (Bld. 41) • Laboratories for Material Processing (Bld. 63) • Laboratories for Uranium Treatment and Liquid Radioactive Waste (Bld 64) *3 • Laboratories for Experimental Physics and Measurements (Bld. 68) • Hydrogen Station (Bld. 70) • Sewage Station for 30-July Project (Bld. 71) • Experimental Research Laboratories for Fuel Fabrication (Bld. 73 complex) *1 • Cooling Tower of Bld. 80 (Bld 79) • Laboratories for EMIS Development (Bld. 80) *1, *3 • Laboratories for UCl4 Preparation and Purification (Bld. 85)*1,*3 • Chemical Enrichment Laboratories (Bld. 90)
Al Atheer Centre	• High Explosives Test Bunker and stores (Bld. 33) *2 • Offices of Activity 40B (Bld. 79) • Electrical Laboratories (Bld. 94)
Tarmiya EMIS Facility	• EMIS Alpha Separator Building (Bld. 33) • Air Conditioning Units (Blds. 21-23, 34-36, 244, 246) • EMIS Beta Separator Building (Bld. 245) • Electrical Power Substations (Blds. 5, 38, 61, 243, 228) *2 • EMIS Separator Wash Room (Bld. 225) *2 • Waste Treatment Building (Bld. 216)
Sharqat EMIS Facility	• EMIS Washing and Cleaning (Bld. C-034) • EMIS Washing (C-054) • Electrical Power Supply (Blds. B-029, B-027, B-020, B-032)*2 • Utility Building (Bld. B-031) • Cooling Towers (Bld. B-033) • Equipment Hall (Bld. B-051) • Main Power Station (B-046) • EMIS Beta Separator Hall (B-021) *2 • Workshop (B-003)
Al Qaim Uranium Purification Facility	• Uranium Purification Building (Bld. 300)
Jesira Uranium Processing Plant	• UO2 Production Plant *1 • UCl4 Production Plant • UCl4 Production Plant Utilities • UO2 Production Plant Utilities

*1 - Iraq further levelled building to the ground for concealment of actual activities (Iraq's declaration).
*2 - Building further destroyed under IAEA supervision.
*3 - Building decontaminated by Iraq after the war to conceal previous activities (Iraq's declaration).

 

3.5. Uranium fuel removed from Iraq under IAEA supervision

No.	Date of Removal	Element Weight (g)	U-235 Weight (g)	No of Items	Uranium Enrichment (%)	Irrad. Status
1.	1991-11-17	13722	10998	68	80	Fresh
2.	1991-11-17	3538	1272	10	36	Fresh
3.	1993-12-04	86480	8648	68	10	Irrad.
4.	1993-12-04	1002	360	3	36	Irrad.
5.	1993-12-04	8150	6588	41	80	Irrad.
6.	1994-02-12	1280	128	1	10	Irrad.
7.	1994-02-12	11041	8872	55	80	Irrad.
8.	1994-02-12	11874	11050	38	93	Irrad.
9.	1994-02-12	7900	55	2	Natural	Irrad.
Total:		144987	47971	286

Notes:
1. Uranium fuel was transferred to Russia for processing.
2. In November 1991 IAEA also removed 63 mg of U-233.
3. Uranium fresh fuel components of 323 g (36% enrichment) exempted by Iraq from safeguards and 417 g (93% enrichment) were transferred to the IAEA Seibersdorf Laboratory.

 

3.6. Plutonium removed from Iraq under IAEA supervision

No	Date	Weight	Plutonium Isotope	No. of Items	Origin
1.	June 1991 IAEA-2	<5g	Pu	-	Iraq
2.	October 1991 IAEA-7	Microgram quantities	Pu-238	2 items	Iraq
3.	November 1991 IAEA-8	Milligram quantities	Pu-239	6 sealed ampoules	Amersham, UK
4.	November 1991 IAEA-8	Microgram quantities	Pu-238	33 sealed ampoules	Amersham, UK
5.	November 1991 IAEA-8	<0.3g	Pu	-	Iraq

Note:
1. Plutonium was transferred to the IAEA Seibersdorf Laboratory.
2. Two Np-237 standards (about 200 mg) were also removed by IAEA (November 1991).
3. Imported Pu-Be source containing about 16 g of Pu has not been located by Iraq.

 

 

 

 

[mewzilla]

What did the Syrians know and when did they know it...

[Admin Moderator]

Updated

[jimbo123]

Saddam is gone and Gore lost the election. Get over it.

[ImphClinton]

Banner on top of front page www.cnn.com and other pages.

No details yet on page.

CIA now has in it's hands a key piece of the centrifuge. Reporting from Germany. Hid in back yard under a rosebush.

Is very important been talking to scientist since April 20th. Documents also. He made a decission to coperats. Orenco AG. worked with them. This is an advanced cent

[ContentiousObjector]

The thing in the middle is a labratory gas centrifuge, if anyone seriously called one of those 'the smoking gun' they would be laughed out of the room.

[CyberAnt]

I think that's where most of the stuff is. Remember when Blixy was roaming around Baghdad and they got a scientist who had stuff in his house and tons of documents about some wmd program ...?? Right then and there - as far as I was concerned there was the info - and it was the scientists who were NOT ALLOWED TO TALK TO INSPECTORS without a monitor. Why ... ?? Because the scientists all knew the stuff was burried in each of their backyards.

And ... it has been reported that the scientists are not giving up the info - and I'm wondering if it's because they are unsure if Saddam is alive. We absolutely NEED to find the guy!!

Plus ... don't forget the fresh graves - and witnesses who reported busloads of men arriving in the middle of the night and the busses leaving the next day - EMPTY! I suspect these could have been the people who buried the WMD stuff - and they're not going to reveal anything.

[vetvetdoug]

That looks like the centrifuge that Hatfield used to create the anthrax he used to send to Little Tommy Dashole. Really, this way the administration and the FBI can be cleared in one fell swoop.

[madison10]

to = do Sigh.

[Weimdog]

"He also said other Iraqi scientists were watching to see if he was safe after he cooperated with the U.S. government.

Now that he is safe, Obeidi said he believes other scientists would come forward with other components of Iraq's weapons program."

The best is yet to come...

[mewzilla]

Click here for a Washington Post article from 2002 that mentions Obeidi.

[VRWC_minion]

It begins to tell us how huge our job is," Kay said. "Remember, his material was buried in a barrel behind his house in a rose garden. There's no way that that would have been discovered by normal international inspections. I couldn't have done it. My successors couldn't have done it."

Only SECOND day on the job. What took him so long ?

CNN had this story last week but made a decision to withhold it at the request of the U.S. government, which cited safety and national security concerns.

As myself and many Freepers have warned the Bush haters----the gov't is probably withholding disclosure of information while the investigation continues. Don't assume that weapons are not being discovered just because they are not being reported.

[Henk]

Oak Ridge (K-25) was a gas diffusion plant, not a gas centrifuge plant. It doesn't take as much space with gas centrifuge technology. Also, they'd only need to enrich enough for the first bomb, right, not enough to supply the entire US nuclear fuel industry.

[ContentiousObjector]

the weapons inspectors found tons of them, and if the scientists walked off with this thing just before the start of the first gulf war because he knew it would be destroyed when his facility was bombed, the Iraqi government probably counted it as destroyed in the bombing.