The alleged discovery of traces of highly enriched uranium has once again hit the headlines. Why, wonders Gamal Essam El-Din Does Egypt have a clandestine nuclear weapons programme that could be used if the country feels threatened by its neighbours, especially Israel and Iran? In the last few days the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) made a surprise announcement, claiming Egypt possessed "small amounts of highly enriched uranium" which could be used to make nuclear weapons. According to one IAEA official, speaking on condition of anonymity, inspectors found that between 2007 and 2008 Egypt had used the Inshas Nuclear Research Reactors in the Nile-Delta governorate of Sharqiya (northeast of Cairo) to produce small amounts of 20 per cent enriched uranium. According to the official a confidential 82-page IAEA report on Egypt's nuclear facilities circulated on 5 May said the agency would pursue verification and inspectors would return to Inshas on regular tours to investigate the source of the uranium. "We guess the uranium might have come from containers that the Inshas facility uses for experiments," the IAEA official said, adding that "the agency's inspectors aim very soon to take new samples from Inshas in order to specify the source of the uranium. We will need time to ascertain whether the enriched uranium is of the kind that can be used to make nuclear weapons." The IAEA report recalled that in 2005 the agency criticised Egypt for failing to report nuclear experiments for more than a decade. According to the report, between 1990 and 2003 Egypt used its two research reactors at Inshas to irradiate "small amounts of natural uranium", conducting a total of 16 experiments. "None of the experiments fully succeeded, but in each case they should have been reported to the agency under the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT]," the report concluded. IAEA's sudden, and unexpected, leak sparked a furious response in Cairo. Hossam Zaki, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, lashed out at the IAEA, saying in press conference on 7 May that "it is surprising that the IAEA let some newspapers and news agencies obtain and publish information from a report which will be a matter of discussion next June". "We have several question marks about the motives behind the sudden leak of these classified documents," said Zaki. He stressed that, "Egypt's nuclear activities are strictly for peaceful purposes and the information contained in IAEA's new report about Egypt is old and baseless". "This issue is not new. It was raised by the IAEA in 2007. We responded at the time and our responses assuaged any suspicions," says Zaki. He added that the Foreign Ministry "had given strict orders to Egypt's mission in Vienna to ask why secret information about Egypt was leaked to the press before the discussion of the report next month". Mohamed El-Qollali, chairman of Egypt's Atomic Energy Agency (EAEA), insists that Egypt has never conducted nuclear experiments that violate the NPT. "Leaked allegations that Egypt has enriched uranium are entirely unfounded," he said. The NPT, El-Qollali points out, gives IAEA officials the right to conduct periodic inspections on Egypt's nuclear facilities. "During a visit to the Inshas reactor," said El-Qollali, "IAEA inspectors found traces of uranium particles on five containers and asked for an explanation." In response, EAEA officials revealed the containers had been imported for research in areas of medicine and agriculture. "We told them that the containers were the source of the uranium particles and they accepted this explanation." Besides, added El-Qollali, IAEA inspectors have made a series of recent follow-up inspections of Inshas, the last of which was on 20 April, during which they did not raise the uranium issue. "They are now planning a new visit to the facility to analyse new samples," said El-Qollali. Yosri Abu Shadi, chairman of IAEA's department of safeguards, also downplayed the agency's report, arguing that "differing interpretations of Egypt's safeguards obligations under the NPT have led to the problem". The exchange of accusations between Egypt and the IAEA has become a matter of heated debate among political pundits and nuclear experts. Most pointed accusing fingers at Israel, claiming it stands behind the leaked report. Abdallah El-Sinnawi, editor-in-chief of the weekly Al-Arabi, the mouthpiece of the leftist Nasserist Party, argued on Sunday that the IAEA report is part of an American-Israeli conspiracy to pressure Egypt ahead of a new round of peace negotiations expected between the Arabs and Israelis. "The report could be the first step in portraying Egypt as a rogue state or in pressing the regime of President Mubarak to exert more pressure on the Palestinians to accept an unfair settlement while simultaneously distracting international attention from Israel's old nuclear programme," said El-Sinnawi. El-Sinnawi noted the revelation of the report came just days after the Egyptian Ministry of Electricity's Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) dropped US construction giant Bechtel as a consultant. "Bechtel might have retaliated by using its influence in IAEA circles to disclose this information," suggested El-Sinnawi. The report has also raised some eyebrows in Israel. One newspaper cited Israel's former ambassador to Cairo, Elli Shakid, as alleging that the report reinforces proof that Egypt is developing a clandestine nuclear power programme. A second Israeli newspaper published a news story on Mohamed El-Sayed Saber, the Egyptian convicted two years ago of providing Israel with secret information about nuclear activities at Inshas. Mohamed Abul-Enein, chairman of the People's Assembly Industrial Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Egypt's nuclear facilities are exclusively for producing energy. "Recent accusations are baseless. Egypt respects its 1981 signing of the NPT. It has also concluded a comprehensive safeguard agreement with the IAEA and is in full cooperation with the agency." Abul-Enein underlines that President Hosni Mubarak was clear when, on September 2006, he announced the revival of the programme to build nuclear power plants. "President Mubarak was clear that the programme was for peaceful purposes," says Abul-Enein. "The revival of the programme was motivated by strategic considerations, on top of which is the fact that Egypt's traditional sources of energy, will be depleted within 40 years." Abul-Enein accuses Israel of being behind the recent disclosures. "Barack Obama last week called on Israel, Pakistan, India and North Korea to sign the NPT and place their nuclear facilities under the IAEA's regime of safeguards," he notes, arguing that "in the face of this heavy pressure Israel is doing its best to disseminate false information about Egypt and other neighbouring countries." A 2006 report compiled by the People's Assembly on Egypt's nuclear power programme said plans were underway to construct three nuclear power plants within a period of 13 years. "The construction time for each plant is estimated at 10 years and will cost $2 billion. Each plant will produce 600 megawatts of electricity," the report said. It also revealed that the Inshas Nuclear Research Centre hosts a mere 2-megawatt, Soviet- supplied reactor that started operating in 1961 and runs on 10 per cent enriched uranium fuel.
