The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program - a stockpile of concentrated natural uranium - reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two- week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans.
The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" - the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment - was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions.
What's left is the final and complicated push to clean up the remaining radioactive debris at the former Tuwaitha nuclear complex about 12 miles south of Baghdad.
"Everyone is very happy to have this safely out of Iraq," said a senior U.S. official who outlined the nearly three-month operation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Though yellowcake alone is not considered potent enough for a so- called "dirty bomb" - a conventional explosive that disperses radioactive material - it could stir 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.
The deal culminated more than a year of intense diplomatic and military initiatives, kept hushed for fear of ambushes or attacks once the convoys were under way: first carrying 3,500 barrels by road to Baghdad, then on 37 military flights to the Indian Ocean atoll of Diego Garcia and finally aboard a U.S.-flagged ship for a 8,500-mile trip to Montreal.
Moving the yellowcake faced numerous hurdles.
Diplomats and military leaders first weighed the idea of shipping it overland to Kuwait's port on the Persian Gulf. Such a route, however, would pass through Iraq's Shiite heartland and within easy range of extremist factions, including some that Washington claims are aided by Iran. The ship also would need to clear the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf, where U.S. and Iranian ships often come in close contact.
An alternative plan took shape: shipping out the yellowcake on cargo planes.
But it still needed a final destination. Iraqi government officials sought buyers on the commercial market, and the Cameco deal was reached earlier this year, the official said.
Originally published by Associated Press.
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