UN: Traces of Plutonium Found in Egypt.

Little Green Footballs ^ | November 5, 2004

[dmartin]

VIENNA, Austria - U.N. experts have found traces of plutonium near an Egyptian nuclear facility and are investigating whether it could be weapons-related or simply a byproduct of the country’s peaceful atomic activities, diplomats told The Associated Press on Friday.

The diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, warned against assuming that Egypt might have contravened the Nonproliferation Treaty by trying to separate plutonium, a substance used in nuclear weapons. The traces could be from a cracked research reactor fuel element or have other origins that have nothing to do with weapons research, they said.

“From time to time, these things pop up in places they should not be at,” said a diplomat familiar with the investigations of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. “Most of the time, there is a reasonable answer.”

[dmartin]

I did not find this in my search so I thought it worth posting.

[KidGlock]

Just a wardrobe malfunction.

[prairiebreeze]

Just a nuisance. Move along.

[July 4th]

Must have fallen out of one of Villepin's pockets.

[Nathan Zachary]

Isn't it dangerous to have this stuff floating around loose in the enviroment? That should be alarming, regardless if it is just residue from fuel rods.

[vollmond]

Nothing to see here people, just left-over from the pre-Pharaoh days.

[Diogenesis]

“From time to time, these things [plutonium wink wink] pop up ...” said a diplomat familiar with the ... International Atomic Energy Agency.

---

Intermission at El Baradei's "We've-Got-Plutonium and Thermonuclear-Weapons-for-Any-Islamic-State" Terrorist Show

[Moonman62]

The UN would probably like to see terrorists get nuclear weapons.

[cgk]

LOL!!!

[Domestic Church]

“Most of the time, there is a reasonable
answer.”


There can be nothing remotely reasonable about the association of plutonium and Egypt.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

LOLOLOL

[doug from upland]

“From time to time, these things pop up in places they should not be at,”
===============================

Thanks to our military, they won't be popping up in Iraq.

[coconutt2000]

Well, it would certainly justify a militarization of the UN.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Exactly!

Peacetime power reactors don't turn out Plutonium as I understood it.

[DTogo]

Tag it and put it into a bunker marked "Loot Me" and then the NYTimes can blame it all on Bush again...

[steveegg]

Very interesting. A couple of quick notes about plutionium:

• It is NOT, repeat, NOT found in nature.
• Depending on the type of reactor, it is a byproduct of normal fission.
• Besides being radioactive and useful in a nuclear weapon (though it is not as useful as uranium-235), it is also toxic.

[steveegg]

Peacetime power reactors don't turn out Plutonium as I understood it.

Modern US civilian reactors don't, but other designs do pump out plutonium (e.g. breeder reactors). The only "victory" that the Peanut Farmer got from North Korea was that Krazy Kim (allegedly) gave up a type of reactor that does produce plutonium.

[brewcrew]

Okay, Egypt - line up directly behind Saddam and stand still (so we can save on bullets).

[Thinkin' Gal]

UN: Traces of Plutonium Found in Egypt

"Did you rip that off?"

[Blood of Tyrants]

Not only is it highly radioactive, it is highly poisonous stuff as I remember.