As a member of a delegation sent by the U.S. Department of Energy, our director, Dr. Charlton, traveled to Libya in 2005 and 2007. The focus of the visits was to begin re-engaging former WMD scientists in Libya in peaceful projects driven by a Sister Laboratory Agreement between the U.S. DOE and the Libyan REWDC. This allowed for the first ever technical interaction between scientists in the U.S. and scientists in Libya in generations. The delegation consisted of both scientists and goverment officials.

The U.S. DOE's Global Cooperation and Engagement programs are designed to allow technical experts to help re-train and re-educate former weapons scientists to keep these scientists engaged in peaceful activities within their nation. This could help prevent scientists with weapons knowledge from potentially going to "countries of concern" and minimize the "brain drain" effect of technical professionals leaving developing nations. The goal of the interaction with Libya is initially to help re-engage scientists from two areas in Libya:

• research reactor scientists
• centrifuge scientists

His first visit to Libya in 2005 took Dr. Charlton to the Tajura research facility outside Tripoli, a former weapons research facility built around a 10-megawatt nuclear reactor. This visit aimed at conducting a joint assessment of the REWDC research reactor for its capabilities in radioisotope production and neutron activation analysis and providing input on projects that should be pursued jointly between scientists in the two countries.

Further regular trips to continue this collaboration are expected.

• "U.S. And Libya Sign Sister Laboratory Arrangement" :
  Press Release from the NNSA
• Factsheet on Libya:
  Prepared by the International Security & Nonproliferation Bureau
• "Swords into Plowshares, 21st-Century Style":
  Feature on Dr. Charlton's trip to Libya in the TAMU Engineering News