Article

2003-06-16 Caucasus

Georgia Finds Dirty Bomb Material in Taxi

Georgian authorities have found highly radioactive material that could be used in a "dirty" bomb and a container of lethal Mustard Gas in a taxi in the capital Tbilisi, police said on Monday. Police searched the taxi on May 31 and found two metal boxes stuffed with radioactive by-products of nuclear fission, Cesium-137 and Strontium-90. One container, inscribed in Russian and English, weighed at least 170 pounds. A separate container had Mustard Gas, or Yperite, an odorless chemical used in World War One and which can be lethal in small quantities. "The most likely version is that the containers were intended to be transported on to Turkey and to be resold," police spokesman Givi Mgebrishvili told a news conference.
Mgebrishvili said police found the material during a routine raid in a Tbilisi suburb.The taxi driver was unaware of his dangerous cargo and has been released.
Seems like the taxi drivers in this region don't really care what the cargo is as long as you have the cash.
Two suspects are in police custody, accused of trying to take the material to the former Soviet state's Adzhara autonomous republic on the border with Turkey. "A dirty bomb could be easily made from these substances," said Leri Meskhi, a nuclear expert at Tbilisi University.
Cesium-137 is the same stuff they caught the guy in Thailand with.

Posted by Steve 2003-06-16 12:23 pm|| || Front Page|| [22 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Cs-137 is one of the easiest gamma emitters to identify - it has a single 662-keV gamma that is emitted in 100% of all decays. It is used as a calibration source and a teaching aid and virtually anybody can get its identification right. When reports identify a source as being Cs-137 they are very often correct. The quantities are always wildly wrong but then you can't have everything.

Posted by Russell 6/16/2003 8:00:24 PM|| 6/16/2003 8:00:24 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Seems like the taxi drivers in this region don't really care what the cargo is as long as you have the cash.

Shouldn't be too hard on them: FedEx, UPS and Yellow Cab here in Chicago will also cart and deliver just about anything, and while I'm sure there are certain security measures, I'm also sure that they've delivered stuff, unknowingly, that we would have preferred hadn't been delivered.

Posted by Steve White 2003-06-16 12:36:20|| 2003-06-16 12:36:20|| Front Page Top

#3 Remember that it ain't cesium until WE say it's cesium. Take all these reports with a big grain of salt until someone in the West confirms the find.

Posted by Chuck (not Taylor) 2003-06-16 13:52:27|| [blog.simmins.org] 2003-06-16 13:52:27|| Front Page Top

#4 Cs-137 is one of the easiest gamma emitters to identify - it has a single 662-keV gamma that is emitted in 100% of all decays. It is used as a calibration source and a teaching aid and virtually anybody can get its identification right. When reports identify a source as being Cs-137 they are very often correct. The quantities are always wildly wrong but then you can't have everything.

Posted by Russell 2003-06-16 20:00:24|| 2003-06-16 20:00:24|| Front Page Top

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