Nuclear Proliferation — 2026-08-10

DRC Probes How Up to 5000 Tonnes of Undeclared Uranium Leaked Into Cobalt Exports Mostly Bound for China

BLUFKinshasa's announced investigation, backed by neither IAEA pressure nor independent verification requirements, is structured to absorb reputational damage rather than impose enforceable uranium controls on cobalt exports.

Congo's government said Friday it will investigate uranium contamination in cobalt exports, ordering tests on cobalt hydroxide shipped largely to China and forming a working group tied to consultations with the IAEA 1. The probe follows a Nature Communications study published July 30 by University of Wisconsin-Madison and Princeton researchers, developed with Lighthouse Reports and the Financial Times, estimating 2,000 to 5,000 tonnes of natural uranium left the DRC in cobalt-hydroxide shipments between 2000 and 2024 despite no officially declared uranium production, with less than 10% publicly declared under international safeguards 12. DRC's government disputed the study's methodology as reliant on modeling rather than direct shipment measurements, while pledging national and international laboratory testing and radiation detectors for outbound trucks 13. The Union of Chinese-Capital Mining Companies in the DRC said August 5 an internal review found no excessive uranium in its members' cobalt products, and CMOC separately denied any uranium contamination of its ore 12. An IAEA expert cited in the reporting said the agency had no indication DRC was failing to meet its safeguards obligations 12.

Analysis
Kinshasa's probe tests whether announced laboratory testing and truck-mounted radiation detectors become enforceable export controls or remain a reputational response, and its rejection of the study's modeling methodology gives it room to slow-walk verification without contesting the underlying trade and geochemical data. IAEA's public position that Congo meets its safeguards obligations removes near-term multilateral pressure for stricter customs screening, leaving enforcement contingent on domestic follow-through Kinshasa has not yet shown. Chinese mining companies' denials lack independent verification, leaving the uranium question unresolved inside a cobalt supply chain central to global battery and alloy production. Bloomberg, AFP, and Lighthouse Reports report independently as primary sources, converging with Mining.com's secondary account, though all trace to the same underlying Nature Communications study. The uranium may instead reflect natural geological co-occurrence with cobalt ore left unmeasured for decades rather than deliberate extraction and diversion.

4 sources

DRC probes how 5,000 tonnes of uranium leaked into cobalt exports - Mining.com
Congo's Hidden Uranium Exports - Lighthouse Reports
DR Congo says will look into reports of uranium in China-bound cobalt - AFP
Congo to Investigate Reports of Excess Uranium in Cobalt Exports - Bloomberg