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Digital Archive International History Declassified

March, 1985

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE, 'THE LIBYAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM: A TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE'

This document was made possible with support from the Leon Levy Foundation, Carnegie Corporation

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    For years, U.S. intelligence agencies did not take seriously Muammar Gaddafi’s efforts to develop a Libyan nuclear capability and this report provides early evidence of the perspective that the Libyan program “did not know what it was doing.” According to the CIA, the program’s “serious deficiencies,” including “poor leadership” and lack of both “coherent planning” and trained personnel made it “highly unlikely the Libyans will achieve a nuclear weapons capability within the next 10 years.” The Libyan effort was in such a “rudimentary stage” that they were trying to acquire any technology that would be relevant to producing plutonium or enriched uranium.
    "Central Intelligence Agency, Directorate of Intelligence, 'The Libyan Nuclear Program: A Technical Perspective' ," March, 1985, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, Obtained and contributed by William Burr and included in NPIHP Research Update #11 https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/116906

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Document summary

For years, U.S. intelligence agencies did not take seriously Muammar Gaddafi’s efforts to develop a Libyan nuclear capability and this report provides early evidence of the perspective that the Libyan program “did not know what it was doing.” According to the CIA, the program’s “serious deficiencies,” including “poor leadership” and lack of both “coherent planning” and trained personnel made it “highly unlikely the Libyans will achieve a nuclear weapons capability within the next 10 years.” The Libyan effort was in such a “rudimentary stage” that they were trying to acquire any technology that would be relevant to producing plutonium or enriched uranium.

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United States. Central Intelligence Agency

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Source

  • Obtained and contributed by William Burr and included in NPIHP Research Update #11

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  • Report

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  • NPIHP - The Nuclear Proliferation International History Project welcomes reuse of Digital Archive materials for research and educational purposes. Some documents may be subject to copyright, which is retained by the rights holders in accordance with US and international copyright laws. To enquire about this document's rights status or request permission for commercial use, please contact the Nuclear Proliferation International History Project at NPIHP@wilsoncenter.org.

Record ID

  • 116906

Classification

  • Top Secret

Donors

  • Leon Levy Foundation
  • Carnegie Corporation