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Secret shipment at Y-12
Note: Secret Shipment? Tons? Lets see, have presser and its a
"Secret Shipment". Hexafloride, some components for centrifuges
and some guidance sets which I doubt went to oakridge..... Got to
love the press....Gerry.
---------------------------------
Secret shipment at Y-12
Libyan nuclear material airlifted to Oak Ridge as gesture by
Gadhafi
By FRANK MUNGER AND RICHARD POWELSON, munger@knews.com
_powelsonr@shns.com
January 28, 2004
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_2609863,00.html
Tons of nuclear material and sensitive equipment were airlifted
out of Libya Monday night and brought to a government facility in
Oak Ridge, officials confirmed Tuesday - hours after the secret
shipment had reached its destination.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in a press briefing
that a transport plane arrived at 8:37 a.m. Tuesday at McGhee
Tyson Airport in Knoxville. The nuclear cargo then was trucked to
the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, where it will be
housed at least for the short term.
The big shipment, estimated at 55,000 pounds, is part of a rapid
U.S. response to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's December promise
to abandon his weapons-development program.
"This reflects real progress," McClellan said of the nuclear
shipment.
"On the flight was UF6 - uranium hexafluoride - which is used for
feedstock to enrich uranium," he said. "Also included on the
flight were centrifuge parts, which are used to enrich uranium
(for weapons use). Finally, the shipment contains ballistic
missile guidance sets for longer-range missiles, which Libya has
voluntarily agreed to eliminate."
McClellan said the cargo was sent to a "secure facility" in
Tennessee. That facility is Y-12, a warhead-manufacturing
facility that also houses the nation's primary stockpile of
weapons-grade uranium.
The mission plans were first reported over the weekend by Reuters
news service, which quoted senior U.S. officials about the effort
to whisk nuclear components out of Tripoli.
Oak Ridge officials repeatedly refused to comment over the past
couple of days, citing classification restrictions.
"I try as best I can to never get into 'no comment' situations,
but this is one that's classified and I've got to punt it to
Washington," Billy Stair, a spokesman at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, said. Initial reports had indicated the material was
headed to ORNL, not Y-12.
The Libyan mission is reminiscent of Project Sapphire in 1994. In
that super-secret effort, 600 kilograms of weapons-usable uranium
was airlifted from Kazakhstan - a former Soviet state - to reduce
the risk of it falling into the hands of terrorists or the
nuclear black-market. The material was sent to Y-12 for storage
and evaluation before being sent to a Virginia nuclear facility
for processing to reduce its weapons capability.
The fact that Y-12 was chosen as host for Libya's nuclear
materials is ironic because the Oak Ridge plant has been under
fire in recent weeks for alleged security problems.
A watchdog group, the Project On Government Oversight, suggested
Y-12 was vulnerable to terrorist attack. The group, citing
government sources, said the plant's guards failed to protect
nuclear assets during a security exercise in December. Also,
DOE's Inspector General this week released a report that said a
Y-12 security exercise last summer was "tainted" because some
guards had received advance information on the tests.
Wackenhut, the government's security contractor in Oak Ridge,
countered those reports and said the protective capabilities at
Y-12 had never been better.
The Associated Press quoted Bush administration officials as
saying Gadhafi could expect some easing of economic pressure if
the cooperation continues. However, those officials said Libya
had yet to prove it no longer supports terrorism, a key
requirement for improved relations.
Before the nuclear airlift to Tennessee, another plane left
Tripoli last week with sensitive documents associated with the
Libyan nuclear weapons program, McClellan said. The White House
spokesman also said other efforts were underway to destroy
capabilities for chemical munitions.
"While these shipments are only the beginning of the elimination
of Libya's weapons, these shipments, as well as the close
cooperation on the ground in Libya, reflect real progress in
Libya meeting its commitments," McClellan said. "Colonel Gadhafi
made a courageous decision to give up his weapons, and through
this transparent process, the world can see that Colonel Gadhafi
is keeping his commitment."
U.S. and British officials have been in Libya during the past
week, along with representatives from the International Atomic
Energy Agency. Both ORNL and Y-12 have experts routinely called
upon for missions related to nuclear non-proliferation, but it is
not yet clear if any Oak Ridge employees were in Libya to assist
with the mission preparations there.
Steven Wyatt, a spokesman in DOE's Oak Ridge office, declined to
comment, and officials associated with the nuclear programs in
Oak Ridge referred calls to Washington.
Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-66329. Richard Powelson
may be reached at 202-408-2727.
----------------------
US Airlifts Nuclear Weapons Program Components Out of Libya
David Gollust
State Department
27 Jan 2004, 22:27 UTC
The United States has airlifted out of Libya components of the
nuclear weapons program that country agreed to give up last
month. The White House, which made the announcement, hailed Libya
for its cooperation and said its good faith in dismantling
weapons will be reciprocated.
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectid=EABE9199-7DCF-4086-A641594ADE354E2F&title=US%20Airlifts%20Nuclear%20Weapons%20Program%20Components%20Out%20of%20Libya&db=current
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