Nuke 'yellowcake' from Iraq found?

[lucky wilbury]

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=36632

Nuke 'yellowcake' from Iraq found?
IAEA probing discovery of uranium oxide in shipment of scrap steel

Posted: January 15, 2004
9:25 p.m. Eastern



© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

A shipment of scrap steel believed to be from Iraq contains radioactive material known as yellowcake, according to a recycling company in the Netherlands.

The shipment was passed on from a Jordanian metal dealer who claims he was unaware it included uranium oxide, the Associated Press reported.

The material, which can be used to make nuclear weapons, was at the center of a controversy last year over President Bush's reference in his State of the Union address to a report Iraq was seeking to purchase it in Africa.

Key documents supporting the claim were found later to be forgeries, but the U.S. said its original information about the alleged attempt to buy yellowcake from Niger came from British intelligence. The UK's Foreign Office still stands on its claim.

Paul de Bruin, spokesman for Rotterdam-based Jewometaal, told the AP he has dealt with the Jordanian dealer for 15 years, and the man is convinced the material came from Iraq. De Bruin has been told to not reveal the dealer's name, however, because the find is being investigated.

Uranium oxide is not radioactive, experts say, but with advanced technology can be processed into enriched uranium, suitable for a nuclear weapon.

The Dutch Environment Ministry confirmed yesterday Jewometaal reported the find Dec. 16, the AP said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency visited Rotterdam Wednesday but had no further comment, the newswire reported.

Environment Ministry spokesman Wim Van der Weegen said the material was discovered in a small steel industrial container used to connect pipes or electrical wires.

Dr. Alan Ketering, a researcher at the nuclear research plant at the University of Missouri-Columbia, told the AP yellowcake has no non-nuclear industrial use. It would be strange to find it in random scrap metal, he said.

[lucky wilbury]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/st...011504943.html


Source of Rotterdam Yellowcake Probed
By TOBY STERLING
ASSOCIATED PRESS

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - A recycling company found uranium oxide - a radioactive material also known as yellowcake - in a shipment of scrap steel it believes originally came from Iraq, the company said Thursday.

Paul de Bruin, spokesman for Rotterdam-based Jewometaal, said that the shipment was passed on last month from a Jordan metal dealer who was unaware it contained any forbidden materials.

"I've dealt with this man for 15 years and he says he's sure it came from Iraq," De Bruin said. He said Jewometaal had been asked not to reveal the name of the Jordanian exporter while the find was being investigated.

Nuclear experts say that although not highly radioactive, uranium oxide can be processed into enriched uranium usable in a nuclear weapon - but highly advanced technology is needed.

The Dutch Environment Ministry confirmed Thursday that Jewometaal reported the unusual find on Dec. 16. After a preliminary investigation by a company that specializes in removing radioactive waste, the Dutch government decided to call in the International Atomic Energy Agency to investigate further.

A spokesman for the IAEA confirmed the agency had visited Rotterdam on Wednesday but had no further comment.

Environment ministry spokesman Wim van der Weegen said scrap metal companies in the Rotterdam port, which is Europe's largest, report around 200 findings of radioactive material per year, often from old hospital equipment or normal industrial uses.

But the finding of an estimated two pounds of uranium oxide is odd, Van der Weegen said.

Experts said that around 2 pounds of yellowcake, the amount found, would not be useful for either a bomb or fuel.

Dr. Alan Ketering, a researcher at the nuclear research plant at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said yellowcake contains less than 1 percent of U-235 used in nuclear weapons. He said it would need to be refined many times with sophisticated technology before it was dangerous - and the amount found in Rotterdam would not be nearly enough.

"Anybody can dig it up and purify it to make the yellow stuff," he said. "It's the separation of U-235 that people are concerned about."

However, he said there was no obvious non-nuclear industrial use for yellowcake and it would be strange to find it in random scrap metal.

The material was found in a small steel industrial container apparently used to connect pipes or electrical wires, Environment Ministry spokesman Van der Weegen said.

He said it wasn't yet known where the yellowcake originated.

"It could be from anywhere in the world," Van der Weegen said. After testing, the material was shipped to a nuclear waste plant in the Netherlands.

Jordan does not have any known nuclear power plants or weapons and is a signatory to the nuclear test ban treaty.

President Bush came under heavy criticism last year when he asserted in his State of the Union address that Iraq was shopping in Africa for uranium yellowcake - intelligence that turned out to be based on forged documents.

The original suspicions apparently came from a British dossier and Britain's Foreign Office continued to maintain Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Niger, although no evidence was offered.

Last year, the United States agreed to pay $3.4 million to install radioactivity detectors in Rotterdam to scan a fraction of the 6 million containers that pass through it annually for hidden radioactive material.

However, scrap metal companies are already outfitted with detectors, and Jewometaal found the radioactive material with its own equipment.

[Pink Spider]

Right.

At least WND put a question mark in their title. They're probably tired of looking like fools.

[FORD]

Originally posted by Pink Spider
Right.

At least WND put a question mark in their title. They're probably tired of looking like fools.

But they're so damn good at it.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by Pink Spider
Right.

At least WND put a question mark in their title. They're probably tired of looking like fools.

That still puts them miles ahead of the socialist websites of commonwetdreams.org and truthnotout.org.

[Pink Spider]

You're right. They can't compete with lies of WND.

Here's the top "stories" as of now:

"Israel seeks return
of Temple artifacts
Rabbis urge Vatican to permit
search of storage for treasures

Holy treasure hunt
Tell us if you think Vatican should return Temple artifacts to Jews

SPECIAL OFFERS
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--WND

Go ahead – post the 10 Commandments!
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--ShopNetDaily"

I don't even think CBN or Islam Online has as much religious crap on their website.
:p

[Sarge]

I wonder if we gave this stuff to them?

[FORD]

Originally posted by Sarge
I wonder if we gave this stuff to them?

It's always possible.

[lucky wilbury]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA0R96IIPD.html

IAEA Confirms Yellowcake Found in Rotterdam Likely From Iraq
By Toby Sterling Associated Press Writer
Published: Jan 16, 2004

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog confirmed Friday that Iraq was the likely source of radioactive material known as yellowcake that was found in a shipment of scrap metal at Rotterdam harbor.

Yellowcake, or uranium oxide, could be used to build a nuclear weapon, although it would take tons of the substance refined with sophisticated technology to harvest enough uranium for a single bomb.

A spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency said the Rotterdam specimen was scarcely refined at all from natural uranium ore and may have come from a known mine in Iraq that was active before the 1991 Gulf War.

"I wouldn't hype it too much," said spokeswoman Melissa Fleming. "It was a small amount and it wasn't being peddled as a sample."

The yellowcake was uncovered Dec. 16 by Rotterdam-based scrap metal company Jewometaal, which had received it in a shipment of scrap metal from a dealer in Jordan.

Company spokesman Paul de Bruin said the Jordanian dealer didn't know that the scrap metal contained any radioactive material. He said the dealer was confident the yellowcake, which was contained in a small steel industrial container, came from Iraq.

Jewometaal detected the radioactive material during a routine scan and called in the Dutch government, which in turn asked the IAEA to examine it.

Fleming said the agency will compare the chemical composition of the sample to other samples of ore taken from Iraq's al-Qaim mine, which was bombed in 1991 and dismantled in 1996-97.

She estimated that the Rotterdam sample contained around 5 1/2 pounds of uranium oxide.

President Bush came under heavy criticism last year when he asserted in his State of the Union address that Iraq was shopping in Africa for uranium yellowcake - intelligence that turned out to be based on forged documents.

AP-ES-01-16-04 1204EST

[John Ashcroft]

Originally posted by FORD


It's always possible.

Man I love that pic!

It shows how utterly lost you libs are in your search for an issue every time you post it! Hey, did you see when Rumsfeld was asked "how he found Saddam Hussein" in his previous meetings with him? It was classic! The fuckin' knob of a reporter though he was being clever, and Rummy knocked it out of the park with his classic wit! He said Saddam was in the phone book back then. Fuckin' clown reporters! Something about "brining a knife to a gun fight" comes to mind...

[FORD]

Here's the "yellow cake" they found

Those things have so many preservatives, they'll keep forever.

[Seshmeister]

Ford your sig has Dean saying

'To reclaim our nations destiny"

Do you believe politicians that say that?

What a pile of wank...

Cheers!

[FORD]

Originally posted by Seshmeister
Ford your sig has Dean saying

'To reclaim our nations destiny"

Do you believe politicians that say that?

What a pile of wank...

Cheers!

Actually, I never noticed that line before, since it's animated and changes every few seconds. Hell, as long as the nation's destiny is restored to what it was before December 12, 2000 (Supreme Court Coup) would be a good start.

[Seshmeister]

Originally posted by FORD
Actually, I never noticed that line before, since it's animated and changes every few seconds. Hell, as long as the nation's destiny is restored to what it was before December 12, 2000 (Supreme Court Coup) would be a good start.

The inevitable or necessary fate to which a particular person or thing is destined; one's lot.
A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control: “Marriage and hanging go by destiny” (Robert Burton).

So what a pile of shit.

Destiny means it's preordained so it will happen no matter what.

"Vote for me and things will be as they will be"

I know it sounds pedantic but they are probably paying some prick a lot of money to come up with that nonsense.

Cheers!

[Seshmeister]

And another thing while I'm ranting.

Only third world dictatorships and the US have military presidents.

Cheers!

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by FORD
Here's the "yellow cake" they found

Those things have so many preservatives, they'll keep forever.

They are quite good dunked in orange juice, though.

[BigBadBrian]

Originally posted by Seshmeister
And another thing while I'm ranting.

Only third world dictatorships and the US have military presidents.

Does that mean your parliamentary system forbids former military members from running for a MP slot and possibly becoming the PM? :confused:

[Seshmeister]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Does that mean your parliamentary system forbids former military members from running for a MP slot and possibly becoming the PM? :confused:

No but it should...