By NNN-KUNA,
Baghdad : Iraqi Minister of Science and Technology Raid Fahmi has announced the dismantling and removal of the first demolished nuclear facility located in Tuwaitha, south of Baghdad.
He said in a ceremony Monday held by the ministry at the Conference Palace in coordination with the Education Committee in the parliament and the United Nations that it was unlikely that this facility, which was destroyed in the 1991 war, contains any radioactive material or very small quantity of non-tangible impact.
Fahmi confirmed that this facility had been selected to be the first step in the process of dismantling and removal, which is expected to last several years.
He explained that this project falls under the general policy of the ministry and the government to remove pollution in the country, describing this as “a major challenge facing Iraq because of the magnitude of the problem of multiple forms of pollution and its harmful impact on public health and the national economy.”
Fahmi said that this project would not have been possible without the scientific cooperation and close support given by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
He said: “We are working to overcome the impact of this site … LAMA (the name of the facility) is a building with huge pollution but there are large buildings at Tuwaitha with more pollution.”