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Libya Paid $100 Million for Nuclear Technology; U.S. Displays Libyan Nuclear Weapons Parts
The Bush administration announced yesterday that Libya paid $100 million for nuclear technology from the international smuggling network createad by Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, the New York Times reported (see GSN, March 12). “The network’s financial dealings were deliberately complex and we do not yet have a complete picture,” said Tim Wilkinson, a deputy national security adviser. “The developing picture, however, indicates that the Khan network received at least $100 million for supplying technology, equipment and know-how [to Libya]. It was truly one-stop shopping,” he added. The previous estimate of what Libya had paid to start up its nuclear weapons program was less than $50 million, according to the New York Times. The new $100 million estimate does not include what Iran, North Korea or other Khan customers paid for their nuclear contraband (Sanger/Broad, New York Times, March 16). Meanwhile, the Bush administration yesterday displayed some of the 55,000 pounds of equipment and materials recovered from Libya’s nuclear weapons program, CNN.com reported. The displayed equipment, part of an initial shipment of Libyan WMD-related materials sent to the United States in January, included a dozen of the aluminum casings that would have enclosed uranium enrichment centrifuges, CNN.com reported. The United States recovered about 4,000 such centrifuges from Libya, which was ultimately seeking about 10,000 of the machines — enough to produce enough weapon-grade material each year to develop several nuclear warheads, U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said. The nuclear equipment is being stored at the Energy Department’s Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. A 500-ton second shipment of Libyan WMD-related materials, reportedly including the remainder of its nuclear weapons program, is expected to reach a North Carolina port later this month, CNN.com reported (CNN.com, March 15). Abraham yesterday said the dismantlement of Libya’s nuclear weapons program made the world a safer place. “The United States and the nations of the civilized world are safer as a result of these efforts to secure and remove Libya’s nuclear materials,” Abraham declared. “Libya itself is safer, too … and has moved toward improved relations with the United States and the United Kingdom,” he added (Erika Pontarelli, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, March 16).
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