Nuclear material found in Iraqi homes and schools (tip of the iceburg?)

Last edited: 25-06-2003

A team of Greenpeace radiation experts confronted the occupying forces in Iraq this morning, demanding they clean up contaminated sites.

We discovered nuclear material and high levels of radioactivity in villages surrounding the looted nuclear site at Tuwaitha, south of Baghdad. The high radiation levels were found in houses. One source measured 10,000 times above normal. Another reading 3000 times background levels was taken just outside an Iraqi primary school.

To highlight the US and UK's failure to safeguard the nuclear site, our team returned a large uranium "yellowcake" (uranium oxide processed from uranium ore) mixing canister to the US military guards stationed at the heart of the Tuwaitha nuclear plant.

A convoy of vehicles bearing Greenpeace banners that read "Al Tuwaitha - nuclear disaster - Act now!" with a single activist walking at its head, carrying a white flag, made the symbolic journey.

The canister - the size of a small car - contained significant quantities of radioactive "yellowcake" that had been dumped on a busy section of open ground near the Tuwaitha plant. Despite the military being aware of its presence, locals say it has been left open and unattended for more than 20 days.

"If this had happened in the UK, the US or any other country, the villages around Tuwaitha would be swarming with radiation experts and decontamination teams. It would have been branded a nuclear disaster site and the people given immediate medical check-ups.( among others ) The people of Iraq deserve no less from the international community. That they are being ignored is a scandal that must be rectified without delay," said Mike Townsley of Greenpeace International.

Our radiation experts have found abandoned uranium "yellowcake" and radioactive sources scattered across the community. Much of the material was looted from the facility by villagers who used it for house building and water and food storage. They did not realise the potential danger. In a week long survey, as well as the "yellow cake" canister, Greenpeace uncovered:
Radioactivity in a series of houses, including one source measuring 10,000 times above normal!
Another source outside a 900 pupil primary school measuring 3,000 times above normal!
Locals who are still storing radioactive barrels and lids in their houses.
Another smaller radioactive source abandoned in a nearby field
Consistent and repeated stories of unusual sickness after coming into contact with material from the Tuwaitha plant.
Several objects carrying radioactive symbols discarded in the community .
The preliminary survey and this morning's action in front of heavily armed US troops highlights the total failure of the occupying forces to address the urgent need for a full assessment, containment and clean up of missing nuclear material from the Tuwaitha Nuclear facility.

The UK and the US have so far refused to allow the UN nuclear experts, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to carry out proper documentation and decontamination in Iraq. The US authorities in Baghdad have insisted upon retaining responsibility for protecting human health but consistently deny there is a risk to the local population.

Stephen Tindale Greenpeace UK executive director said,

"Tony Blair needs to face up to his responsibility. Having invaded Iraq, he now has a moral obligation to protect the Iraqi people. Instead he and Bush are actually hampering the UN's efforts to find and clean up nuclear material."



GREENPEACE