South Africa Still Owns Highly Enriched Uranium, Netwerk24 Says

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa still has a stockpile of highly enriched uranium, Netwerk24 reported, citing Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe.

The nation declared its holdings of the nuclear material, which can be used to build weapons, to the International Atomic Energy Agency as part of a comprehensive precautionary agreement, the website reported, citing Mantashe. The level of enrichment of the uranium was classified information, it said.

The country’s possession of this uranium is largely a surplus from the nation’s apartheid-era nuclear-weapons program, Netwerk24 said, citing nuclear affairs expert Noël Stott.

South Africa is a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.