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Curzon
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Curzon

Date

January 26th, 2007

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Sausage trader caught with weapons grade uranium

That has got to be the best headline of the day, although the story is terrifying.

‘Sausage trader’ caught selling weapons grade uranium

MOSCOW - An international nuclear smuggling scandal erupted yesterday after it was revealed that a Russian man has been caught selling weapons-grade uranium on the open market that could easily be used in a small nuclear bomb.

The man, named as 50 year-old Oleg Khinsagov, was arrested in the course of a ‘sting’ operation orchestrated by the FBI and the Georgian secret service last year though details only became public yesterday.

The scandal raises fresh question about the security of nuclear materials on the territory of the former Soviet Union and is embarrassing for the Kremlin that has repeatedly claimed to have successfully broken the illicit trade in nuclear components.

If a butcher in the steppe can get his hands on highly enriched weapons grade uranium (wrapped in a plastic bag in his jacket pocket of all places, with more on the way if the buyer made the purchase), what does that say about the security of nuclear material in the former USSR?

Comments to this entry

Peter
January 26, 2007
10:25 am
That is quite terrifying. It does make one wonder how much illicit nuclear materials trading is actually occuring - is this just the tip of the iceberg?
a517dogg
January 26, 2007
4:48 pm
I wonder what Putin thinks about the Georgian secret service conducting a sting on his territory about nuclear material.
TDL
January 26, 2007
5:04 pm
Isn't necessary to find out who the guy was and knew before we get overly concerned with the issue? If this guy was well connected then it might not be as sensational and frightening as the headline implies. I have a question; why were the Russians still processing nuclear grade plutonium as recently as ten years ago (that was at the end of the article?)

Regards,
TDL
von Kaufman-Turkestansky
January 26, 2007
5:59 pm
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070126-0836-nuclear-georgia-russia.html
This article is also interesting. TDL, the answer to your question is that Russia had and has a nuclear aresenal, as well as nuclear plants. The USA has them too. Actually, I seem to remeber a whole cold war that started
jon
January 26, 2007
6:43 pm
So does this mean we will actually get serious with Nunn-Lugar or create some new mechanism or are we going to wait for someone to set off a bomb in the US. I know that it is not a perfect program, but it is better than nothing.
TDL
January 26, 2007
7:50 pm
von Kaufman-Turkestansky,
What is the "cold war", I never heard of it!?

I will clarify what I am asking, since I am not a weapons expert or a nuclear physicist. Why do the Russians need to continually refine plutonium even after the cold war has ended? Does the material degrade rapidly while sitting in a warhead? The portion of the article I am referring to comes towards the end:

"However laboratories in both the United States and Russia have confirmed that the substance seized was indeed highly enriched weapons-grade uranium and that it was processed around ten years ago [TDL:~1997]."

*Glibness* aside, I am simply asking why would the Russians need to keep refining weapons grade material; is it part of the maintenance process (fairly simple questions for those that have _actual_ knowledge of nuclear weapons?)

Regards,
TDL
TDL
January 26, 2007
7:54 pm
Meant to say uranium not plutonium, but I imagine it applies to both elements.

Regards,
TDL
alan
January 27, 2007
1:16 am
This story again highlights the growing threats of nuclear, chemical and biological terrorism.

Al Qaeda have being purchasing nuclear material for the past decade.

http://www.crusade-media.com/news1.html
von Kaufman-Turkestansky
January 27, 2007
1:29 pm
TDL: Just teasin'. And you are right that an expert answer would be welcome, so let's hope someone puts in an opinion.

Generally, the security angle is something to think about as it looks more and more as though increased use of nuclear power is being considered an option to reduce carbon emissions.

As to the weapons-grade part of the question in Russia specifically, I have found an interesting chart that shows what but not why:
http://www.nti.org/db/nisprofs/russia/fissmat/fischart.htm#top
..
The following article is informative ..
http://www.nti.org/e_research/e3_8a.html#table ..

And I found this site interesting...
http://www.wise-uranium.org/efac.html ...

Enjoy the articles.
Curzon
January 27, 2007
4:55 pm
Jon: Unfortunately, it really will probably take a nuclear detonation somewhere in the first world for the international community to get well and truly serious about cracking down on this. Sad, but I fear a Pearl Harbor or 9/11 is what's required to inspire sufficient action.

Alan: If AQ had been acquiring nuclear material for ten years, they would have used such a weapon by now. That's not something you leave lying around in the attic for a rainy day.
Mr Debris
January 28, 2007
9:58 am
http://polosbastards.com/pb/abkhazia-minefields-and-golden-beaches/
LazyNomad
January 28, 2007
7:54 pm
TDL: Enriched uranium is used as fuel on Russian nuclear submarines and certain types of research reactors. There is a common understanding of the need to converse such reactors, but currently no commercial alternative fuel is available. Also many research reactors in Russia supply neighbouring small towns with electricity and in many cases are the only power source available. So it is impossible just to stop them at will.
As for plutonium, it is the by-product of many types of reactors used on conventional nuclear power plants. You load uranium in reactors and 5 years during reloadinglater take plutonium out of them, which in its turn is also usable fuel for some types of reactors.
Atlantic Review
February 11, 2007
8:49 am
Responding to "Al-Qaeda's Revival"

• The Economist has learned that "intelligence agencies see worrying signs of al-Qaeda's revival:"In his annual threat assessment on January 11th, John Negroponte, America's outgoing intelligence chief, changed his tone. Al-Qaeda's co...