Three Busted for Selling Weapon-Grade Uranium

Via NTI

European authorities have seized about 1 pound of weapon-grade uranium that two Hungarians and one Ukrainian allegedly attempted to sell for $1 million, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Oct. 29).

Investigators are continuing to search for the intended recipient of the powdered uranium, which Slovakian First Police Vice President Michal Kopcik said could have been used in a radiological “dirty bomb.”

Authorities determined the uranium recovered in unlabeled containers to contain 98.6 percent uranium 235.  Uranium containing a minimum of 85 percent uranium 235 is considered weapon grade.

“It was possible to use it in various ways for terrorist attacks,” Kopcik said. 

“According to initial findings, the material originated in the former Soviet republics,” he added.

Investigators believe the suspects planned to complete the sale between Monday and Wednesday this week, but police detained the three when the transfer was not completed as expected, Kopcik said.

Three people were detained last month in the Czech Republic for allegedly attempting to sell fake radiological material, but it remains unclear whether they were involved in the botched uranium deal (Janicek/Kole, Associated Press I/Google News, Nov. 29).

Two of the suspects were arrested in eastern Slovakia and the third suspect was detained in Hungary, Slovak police spokesman Martin Korch said yesterday.

Korch said the arrests followed months of investigation by police from the two nations, but declined to discuss details of the case, such as the intended recipient of the radioactive material.

Slovakia’s border with Ukraine has been seen as a possible entryway into the European Union of WMD materials.  Governments have spent millions of dollars on security upgrades in the area over the past several years (William Kole, Associated Press II/Google News, Nov. 28).