Outside the Beltway

Traces of Enriched Uranium Found on North Korean Equipment

Dave Schuler · Saturday, December 22, 2007 · 1 comment

The blogosphere has been so busy with important stories like the religion of the presidential aspirants, whether George Romney actually marched with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and whether any of the candidates have wrinkles that a rather interesting story has passed with little comment. The Washington Post has reported that traces of enriched uranium have been found on equipment turned over by the North Korean government:

U.S. scientists have discovered traces of enriched uranium on smelted aluminum tubing provided by North Korea, apparently contradicting Pyongyang’s denial that it had a clandestine nuclear program, according to U.S. and diplomatic sources.

The United States has long pointed to North Korea’s acquisition of thousands of aluminum tubes as evidence of such a program, saying the tubes could be used as the outer casing for centrifuges needed to spin hot uranium gas into the fuel for nuclear weapons. North Korea has denied that contention and, as part of a declaration on its nuclear programs due by the end of the year, recently provided the United States with a small sample to demonstrate that the tubes were used for conventional purposes.

More at The Glittering Eye.