Broken dart*

UN nuclear inspectors have found that approximately 2.5 tonnes of natural uranium is missing from a site in Libya that is not under government control.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, told the organisation’s member states that inspectors on Tuesday found that 10 drums containing uranium ore concentrate “were not present as previously declared”.

[...]

Natural uranium cannot immediately be used for energy production or bomb fuel, as the enrichment process typically requires the metal to be converted into a gas, then later spun in centrifuges to reach the levels needed.

However, each tonne of natural uranium, if obtained by a group with the technological means and resources, can be refined to 5.6kg (12lbs) of weapons-grade material over time, experts say. That makes finding the missing metal important for nonproliferation experts.

[...]

The African country has been mired in a political crisis since Gaddafi’s fall in 2011, with myriad militias forming opposing alliances backed by foreign powers.

Libya remains split between a nominally interim government in the capital, Tripoli, in the west and another in the east backed by the military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

  Guardian

*That was a lame attempt to make a pun on the term "broken arrow" used to indicate a nuclear weapon is missing.