Recovered Libyan Nuclear Program Materials Included Warhead Designs

The recent delivery of materials from Libya’s nuclear weapons program to the United States included nuclear warhead designs suspected of being of Pakistani origin, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 3).

Libyan officials have said they acquired the designs for more than $50 million through an international nuclear black market that has been connected to the head of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, Abdul Qadeer Khan (see related GSN story, today). Experts familiar with the designs have said they resemble the warheads China tested in the late 1960s and passed on to Pakistan.

Experts have said that the warhead designs and uranium enrichment centrifuge designs recovered from Libya also appear to be of the same origin.

“My understanding is that it did come from Pakistan,” said Institute for Science and International Security President David Albright.

U.S. officials are currently studying the Libyan designs to determine if they are complete, the Times reported. Officials are also examining if North Korea obtained similar warhead designs through the black market (Broad/Sanger, New York Times, Feb. 4).

Meanwhile, U.S. and British officials are scheduled to hold a joint meeting with their Libyan counterparts Friday in London to discuss “how to move ahead” with improved relations, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, adding that the situation with Libya has “fundamentally changed.”

“We’ve seen a couple of weeks of action on the removal and verification” of Libyan WMD materials, Boucher said. “It’s appropriate to have a political dialogue on what lies ahead,” he said.

Friday’s meeting is also expected to include discussion on another visit to Libyan WMD sites by U.S. and British experts, as well as the removal of more WMD program components to the United States, Boucher said (Barry Schweid, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Feb. 3).

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