Nuclear tests in Egypt

THE UN atomic watchdog agency has found evidence of secret nuclear experiments in Egypt that could be used in weapons programmes, diplomats said yesterday.

The diplomats said that most of the work was carried out in the 1980s and 1990s but said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is also looking at evidence that suggests some were as recent as a year ago.

A diplomat said, the Egyptians “tried to produce various components of uranium” without declaring it to the IAEA, as they were bound to under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.