Vienna, Austria — U.N. experts prepared tamperproof cameras, computerized fuel monitors and other new sleuthing gear for shipment to Baghdad in preparation for the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq.
Immense leaps in monitoring technology since inspectors were allowed into Iraq 11 years ago would make cheating difficult, Jacques Baute of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who will head any nuclear search, said.
IAEA experts overseeing the nuclear component of the inspections displayed some of the agency's advanced monitoring equipment in the U.N. building in Vienna.
Among them was a toaster-size, tamper-proof and weatherproof digital camera that resists dismantling by non-IAEA staff and can work for days on a battery if outside power is cut.
Julian Whichello of the IAEA said dozens of such digital surveillance systems can be left at remote sites to transit encrypted satellite images directly to IAEA headquarters for analysis.
Also shown were fully computerized irradiated fuel monitors, which measure the amount of radioactive fuel produced by a reactor to ensure none of it is diverted for nuclear use, and other devices to register the amount of power used in reactors.
Inspectors also will be armed with global positioning systems and conventional radiation detection equipment.
Besides IAEA teams, the United Nations also plans to send squads led by Hans Blix, in charge of the search for biological and chemical weapons and the long-range missiles capable of delivering them.
A joint advance team is scheduled to fly Monday to Baghdad from Larnaca, Cyprus. They are to be followed by the first inspectors 10 days later.
If inspections go without a hitch, a first report is expected 60 days after the U.N. teams go into action. The teams have until Dec. 23 to begin work.
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