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.