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AROUND THE WORLD 1: Raid in South Africa

Eleven shipping containers filled with uranium enrichment materials were found in a firm and seized by South African police on Tuesday. A raid on the firm allowed South African officials to discover the containers. A man in charge of running the firm has been charged with breaking laws that forbid the production of nuclear weapons. The South African Council for the Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction mentioned in a statement that the containers are now sealed and safely stored by the South African police and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Inspectors from the IAEA are planning to visit South Africa on a regular basis and conduct inspections for any more possible nuclear materials.

Fifty-three-year-old Johan Andries Muller Meyer has been charged with making and exporting nuclear-related materials. Meyer was placed in police custody and will remain so until his bail hearing this week. He was charged for offences that occurred between 2000 and 2001 as well as between 2002 and 2004. Accusations include importing and exporting flow-forming lathe without the proper permits and "unlawfully and willfully possessing and manufacturing nuclear-related equipment and material."

The charges carry various penalties, ranging from a fine to 15 years in prison. Meyer has also been linked by the U.S. embassy to the nuclear program in Libya, which has previously sought nuclear materials on the atomic black market.

Earlier this year, South Africa agreed to disarm all nuclear weapons. In fact, the country took apart its nuclear weapons before 1994, when the apartheid ended. It is the only state with nuclear arms to do so and strongly supports international efforts to limit nuclear use.

--Written by Renee Clara

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