Oh The Irony! Iraq Wants Nuclear Program

By Steve Hynd

According to The Guardian (h/t Gregg Carlstrom)

Iraq has started lobbying for approval to again become a nuclear player, almost 19 years after British and American war planes destroyed Saddam Hussein's last two reactors, the Guardian has learned.

The Iraqi government has approached the French nuclear industry about rebuilding at least one of the reactors that was bombed at the start of the first Gulf war. The government has also contacted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and United Nations to seek ways around resolutions that ban Iraq's re-entry into the nuclear field.

Iraq says it envisages that a reactor would be used initially for research purposes. "We are co-operating with the IAEA and expanding and defining areas of research where we can implement nuclear technology for peaceful means," the science and technology minister, Raid Fahmi, told the Guardian.

"After the dissolution [of the regime] we did not have an industry, but we have become more and more conscious of the need for nuclear technology. This was raised several months ago with the relevant bodies."

It's predictable that France, which has twin foreign policy aims of increased nuclear sales and increased influence in the Middle East, is the front-runner to build any new reactor. But I wonder who the Iraqi government - many of whom still receive pensions from the Iranian government - will turn to for other expertise and perhaps fuel?

Comments

[geoff]

A tiny tidbit Rory Steward to stand for conservatives:

http://bit.ly/24Epj6