:
NUCLEAR,
BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS
January
28, 2007: Authorities in Georgia, the small Caucasus country on Russias
southern border, recently announced that they had arrested a man a year ago who
was in possession of, and trying to sell, weapons grade enriched uranium. The
seller was a Russian from southern Russia, and he was grabbed in a sting
operation. The seller was led to believe he was dealing with Islamic
extremists. The amount seized was a "sample" of 3.5 ounces of 90 percent enriched
(fissile) uranium. That means that 90 percent of the material was capable of
causing a nuclear reaction (slow, for nuclear power, or fast, for a nuclear
explosion). Natural uranium is only about one percent fissile material. It is
enriched to about 40 percent to be used in a nuclear power plant, and 85
percent for nuclear weapons. The seller said he had access to about five pounds
of the weapons grade uranium. That's not enough for a nuclear bomb (which
requires about 40 pounds), but could be used in a dirty bomb. The United States
got control of the sellers uranium and is analyzing it. The seller was offered
$4.5 million per pound. No more information was released on who else was
involved in trying to sell this stuff, or where the nuclear material came from.
The seller apparently never admitted who he was working with.
The
U.S. has provided Russia with billions of dollars to help secure their vast
supplies of fissile material. It's possible to do a chemical analysis of the
Georgian uranium to find out where it was produced. There are only four Russian
plants that make the stuff. But after the weapons grade material is produced,
it is then distributed to several dozen other locations. The search for the
source of this nuclear material is still underway, but the Russians have not
been very cooperative. Russia says the entire incident is an attempt by the
Georgians to embarrass Russia. In 2003 there was a similar case of someone in
Georgia getting caught trying to peddle weapons grade material. That man was tried
in secret and sentenced to 8.5 years in prison. There have been several other
cases in Eastern Europe. Noting that all these incidents resulted in the
sellers going to jail, the Russians believe that any Islamic terrorists seeking
nuclear material would be better off looking for it in Pakistan, where bribery
and corruption are more acceptable.