Iraqi staff at the Tuwaitha nuclear reactor complex on Wednesday made an impromptu effort to counter accusations by the United Nations that vast amounts of nuclear equipment had disappeared from similar facilities in Iraq, by giving tours of the complex to journalists.

The guided tour included a visit to "Location C", the most sensitive part of the complex, a building ringed by concrete blast walls that house 550 tons of yellowcake uranium and other nuclear materials, which are held under lock and key by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog.