Centrifuge Parts Still Missing From Khan Network

Some key uranium enrichment equipment once headed for Libya remains unaccounted for, and international investigators fear that it may now be in use by a secret nuclear weapons program, the Los Angeles Times reported today (see GSN, March 25).

The equipment had been procured by the nuclear smuggling network once headed by former Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, whose black market operation was caught in 2003 trying to supply Libya with uranium enrichment centrifuges capable of producing weapon-grade materials.

U.S. and British officials seized a ship with nuclear equipment headed for Libya in 2003, leading to the exposure of the Khan network, but some equipment that had not yet been shipped has now gone missing.

The equipment includes seven advanced centrifuge rotors, key parts for two specialized lathes that could produce rotors, a ton of high-strength aluminum, and additional centrifuge components, according to investigators interviewed by the Times.

An official from the International Atomic Energy Agency, responsible for leading the Khan network investigation, told German prosecutors last year that four of the missing rotors were destroyed and the remaining three were somewhere in Dubai, home to many Khan activities.

Aside from the official’s assertion, however, no evidence has been found to support the claim that any equipment was destroyed, according to the Times.

One investigator said he suspects that one of the network’s customers has not yet been identified and that the equipment may now be with that client, which is probably a nation rather than a terrorist group, the Times reported (Douglas Frantz, Los Angeles Times, April 22).

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