Global Security Newswire

A top South African political opposition party has formally requested that the International Atomic Energy Agency provide assurance regarding the security of the nation's weapon-usable uranium, the South African Press Association reported on Wednesday (see GSN, Nov. 24, 2008).

The Democratic Alliance hopes the U.N. nuclear watchdog would assist in blending down the material to ensure it could not be used to power nuclear warheads, said party spokesman Pieter van Dalen. The party in writing also asked for IAEA assistance in persuading South Africa's government to release the findings of its probe of the 2007 intrusion into the Pelindaba nuclear facility, which houses the uranium.

Previous reports stated that four intruders breached a perimeter fence and entered a control room, shooting one of two workers present. Meanwhile, other intruders penetrated the perimeter fence at a different spot and encountered security forces. None of the intruders were caught or stole anything of note, according to news accounts.

"After numerous unsuccessful attempts to engage the Department of Energy on these issues, I can only assume that the department does not take this issue seriously enough, or that there is a concerted effort to keep the facts out of the public domain," van Dalen said in a prepared statement.

"Either way, I am forced to appeal to the IAEA for assistance on this issue, in accordance with South Africa's participation in international nonproliferation agreements," he added (South African Press Association/News 24, June 8).