A team of IAEA inspectors has returned from Iraq to Vienna after completing the annual Physical Inventory Verification of declared nuclear material.
The material - natural or low-enriched uranium - is consolidated at a storage facility near the Tuwaitha complex, south of Baghdad. The inspectors found no diversion of nuclear material.
The two-day inspection was conducted with the logistical and security assistance of the Multinational Force, the Office of the UN Security Coordinator, and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq.
Every non-nuclear-weapon State party to the NPT that has declared holdings of nuclear material is required to undergo such inspections. The inspectors verify the correctness of the State´s declaration, and that material has not been diverted to any undeclared activity. Such inspections have been performed in Iraq on a continuing basis.
NPT safeguards inspections are limited in scope and coverage as compared to the verification activities carried out in 1991-98 and 2002-03 by the IAEA under Security Council resolution 687 and related resolutions.