550 Metric Tons of Uranium Removed From Iraq

Orion Blastar tips us to an AP report that 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" uranium has successfully been removed from Iraq. The operation lasted three months, and it required 37 separate flights and an 8,500-mile trip by boat to reach a port in Montreal. Quoting: "While yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so-called 'dirty bomb' -- a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material -- it could stir widespread panic if incorporated in a blast. Yellowcake also can be enriched for use in reactors and, at higher levels, nuclear weapons using sophisticated equipment. The Iraqi government sold the yellowcake to a Canadian uranium producer, Cameco Corp., in a transaction the official described as worth 'tens of millions of dollars.' A Cameco spokesman, Lyle Krahn, declined to discuss the price, but said the yellowcake will be processed at facilities in Ontario for use in energy-producing reactors."

Comments

Re:Thanks, media,

[Orion Blastar]

Well it is enough to create "reasonable doubt" in any impeachment trial. I think I said that before on Slashdot when many claimed Saddam didn't even have yellow cake uranium, but in the end the truth comes out.

YAY!!!!!

[belligerent0001]

We've been blessed with the opportunity to dig up a long dead horse and flog it again.

FACT: Russia, Germany, Egypt, Israel, Iran, and Great Brittan, ALL warned the US that should it invade in 2003 the US would be met with chemical and biological attacks. MOST of the world thought the assclown HAD Weapons of an unconventional nature and the US responded accordingly.

FACT: 3 US soldiers were seriously injured (2 killed if memory serves) trying to disarm 2 IED's that were composed of nerve agent artillery shells.

FACT: Yellow cake, while not overly harmful CAN be made so with processing. Processing which Saddam was attempting to conduct. Not to mention, that even if he didn't/couldn't he could and would sell said materials to either rogue states or known terrorist.

FACT: we can not go back in time and change facts, or reverse decisions. I would agree that the organization of the event could have been much better. Hell, someday, maybe there will be an administration that will stop thinking of military troops as a well equipped police force, I doubt it but one can hope. The point is this, we need to make DAMN certain that Iraq has a regime that can fend for itself, I say this because Iran is already sowing the seeds of invasion.

One last FACT: the vast majority of US troops who are in Iraq and Afghanistan hate being there, BUT realize that there is a job to do and they are doing it. Re-enlistments are higher than is most peace time periods, enlistments are high but suffer from negative propaganda, the people who speak the most about wanting the troops out are by far proportionally highest among people who have never served and feel that the word "duty" is a four letter word.

I myself, am in the process of re-enlisting (seriously out of shape do to sitting on my ass staring at a monitor everyday for 15 years, that and too many Little Debbie snacks) and am on target for a September re-up. This will be a substantial paycut I might add but I feel strongly enough about it that I am willing to do something that 75% of this country is too afraid to do. That is put my ass on the line for something other than a bloody paycheck.