More than 40 countries with peaceful nuclear programs could retool them to make weapons, the head of the UN atomic watchdog agency said Monday amid new U.S. and European demands that Iran give up technology capable of producing such arms.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, suggested in a keynote address to the IAEA general conference that it was time to tighten world policing of nuclear activities and to stop relying on information volunteered by countries.
Beyond the declared nuclear arms-holding countries, “some estimates indicate that 40 countries or more now have the know-how to produce nuclear weapons,” ElBaradei said. “We are relying primarily on the continued good intentions of these countries, intentions, which … could … be subject to rapid change.”
His comments appeared prompted by a series of revelations of proliferation or suspected illicit nuclear activities over the past two years.
Libya last year revealed a clandestine nuclear arms program and announced it would scrap it; North Korea is threatening to activate a weapons program; Iran is being investigated for what the U.S. says is evidence it was trying to make nuclear arms; and South Korea recently said it conducted secret experiments with plutonium and enriched uranium, both possible components of weapons programs.
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Compiled from news services and edited by Patrick Olsen (polsen@tribune.com) and Drew Sottardi (dsottardi@tribune.com)
