Egypt's secret nuclear experiments exposed

The UN atomic watchdog agency has found evidence of secret nuclear experiments in Egypt that could be used in weapons programs, diplomats said today.

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

Specifically, said one of the diplomats, 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.

Among the products were several pounds of uranium metal and of uranium tetrafluoride – a precursor to uranium hexafluoride gas, said the diplomat, who demanded anonymity.

Uranium metal can be processed into plutonium, while uranium hexafluoride can be enriched into weapons grade uranium – both for use in the core of nuclear warheads.

He said the Vienna-based agency has not yet drawn a conclusion on the scope and purpose of the experiments.

But the diplomat – who is well connected to IAEA sources – said the work appeared to have been sporadic, involved small amounts of material and to have lacked a particular focus.

That, he said, indicated that the work was laboratory scale and not directly geared toward creating a full-scale programme to make nuclear weapons.