IRAQ - HEALTH CONCERNS AFTER 1/5 OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MISSING AFTER LOOTING AT TUWAITHA

Bassem Mroue (AP-Baghdad), "Illness reported after N-site looting", The Associated Press, May 22, 2003

THE Iraqi Health Ministry has ordered an immediate health survey around the country's largest nuclear facility amid fears for locals after looting... Shortly after the collapse of Saddam's government on April 9, villagers stormed the sprawling site and looted barrels and jugs filled with hazardous materials... US military officials, who are conducting a damage assessment at the Tuwaitha plant, have said a fifth of the radioactive materials knnown to have been stored there are missing. Experts fear materials such as uranium have been stolen or dumped by thieves in the area. ... The US military's damage assessment ... teams are conducting air monitoring around the area, and Colonel Tim Madere, a US specialist in unconventional weapons, acknowledged that "a potential health hazard" remained. He said 80 per cent of the barrels at the plant containing radioactive material such as uranium remained intact.

Villagers nearby have begun reporting ill effects they attribute to contact with hazardous waste. Menem Abed Ali, who lives in the village of al-Mansia adjacent to the plant, said that since the looting took place he had been suffering from exhaustion and skin irritation. Residents, he said, had been gathering to share stories of their symptoms...