AL-QAIM PHOSPHATE PLANT

According to the U.S. Defense Department, the Al Qaim phosphate plant and uranium extraction line located in northeast Iraq, near the Syrian border, was part of Iraq's comprehensive nuclear weapons development program. Before Desert Storm, Iraq recovered uranium yellow cake at Al Qaim. The Iraqis planned to use this yellow cake to produce the feed material needed for its multiple uranium enrichment efforts in its secret nuclear weapons program. This program, later uncovered by U.N. inspectors, focused on building an implosion-type weapon. The coalition bombed this facility in Desert Storm and Iraq promptly rebuilt it.

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SOURCE: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

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Satellite image by: Space Imaging. All rights reserved.