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Inside the WSA facility in Sanem--the photo shows a tech sergeant from the 86th Material Maintenance Squadron based in Ramstein Air Base in Germany overseeing the loading of an AM-2 matt landing strip destined for Afghanistan back in February 2010.Photo: U.S. Air Force/Sarayuth Pinthong 

The US military has been using the Warehouses Service Agency in Luxembourg since 1978 to store all sorts of material that it might need to be transported to conflict zones or for helping with emergency aid missions.

Now Déi Lénk’s Marc Baum wanted to know, via a parliamentary question, whether any nuclear weapons were being stored in the WSA facility in Sanem (a similar facility in Bettembourg was shuttered down in 2006 and has made way for the new CFL multimodal logistics hub).

François Bausch, in his capacity as armed forces minister, replied to say that there were no nuclear weapons. The minister cited the 1978 memorandum of understanding that permitted the establishment of the WSA sites and which clearly states that no munitions would be stored at the facilities.

Bausch also explained that the WSA facility is actually operated by a Luxembourg company that employs 163 staff under local employment law. WSA sarl is owned by the state and ArcelorMittal--the latter holding a 25% share--and the United States Air Force in Europe is the Luxembourg company’s principle client.