Article

2007-01-25 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Russian man arrested with bomb-grade uranium

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Posted by Fred 2007-01-25 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11126 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 In a plastic bag in his pocket?

Posted by Mike N. 2007-01-25 00:45|| 2007-01-25 00:45|| Front Page Top

#2 Is that uranium in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see through me?

Posted by Mae East 2007-01-25 05:40|| 2007-01-25 05:40|| Front Page Top

#3
More details in the New York Times, including an overly picturesque description of the seller's appearance. Key bits:

100 grams (3 1/2 oz) of uranium enriched to nearly 90 percent U-235, according to Russian and American government analyses. Important for the reader's understanding, uranium in that form emits little radiation and presents little danger to the handler.

The Russian, Oleg Khinsagov, came to meet a buyer who he believed would pay him $1 million and deliver the sample to a Muslim man from a serious organization. If all went smoothly, he claimed to have a 2-3 kg (4.5-6.5 lb) cache stored in his apartment back in Vladikavkaz, which in expert hands is enough to make a small bomb.

After a secret trial, Khinsagov was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in Georgian prison.

The NYT reporter claims this information is based on interviews with Georgian and American officials, along with a review of confidential government documents.

A similar case in 2003. That smuggler, an Armenian named Garik Dadayan, was arrested on June 26, 2003, at Sadakhlo, a village where Georgia meets Armenia and Azerbaijan. Dadayan was carrying 170 grams (7 oz) of highly enriched uranium. He said the uranium came from Novosibirsk, in Siberia, the site of a major Russian nuclear complex that processes highly enriched uranium. He intended to sell the material to a Turkish middleman named Teimur Sadik; its ultimate destination, he'd been told, was a Muslim man. Dadayan was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in Armenian prison. Sadik is in custody of the Turkish secret services.

Virtually all nuclear materials seized since the Soviet breakup are believed to be Russian in origin.

On Friday the UN IAEA in Vienna will announce details about the 2006 case.

Background: In 1994, two seizures involved more than 5 kg of highly enriched uranium. The IAEA has listed more than a dozen cases of illicit trade in highly enriched uranium, along with dozens of seizures of highly radioactive material. Between 2000 and 2006, the amounts and purity of the seized material declined as former Soviet republics set up new security precautions, often financed by the United States.

Posted by trailing wife 2007-01-25 06:46|| 2007-01-25 06:46|| Front Page Top

#4 I think there needs to be uranium buy back program. These ruskies are dirt poor and don't care who pays them.

Posted by Gloque Elmang4914 2007-01-25 06:55|| 2007-01-25 06:55|| Front Page Top

#5 100 grams (3 1/2 oz) of uranium enriched to nearly 90 percent U-235, according to Russian and American government analyses. Important for the reader's understanding, uranium in that form emits little radiation and presents little danger to the handler.
This doesn't sound right. The percentage of U235 to U238 in natural uranium is .72% U235 to 97% U238. Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU)is typically 20% U235. It is highly radioactive. Anything enriched to higher levels it will go BOOM.

Posted by Deacon Blues 2007-01-25 07:33|| 2007-01-25 07:33|| Front Page Top

#6 IF TRUE, HE"s a dead man.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2007-01-25 09:45|| 2007-01-25 09:45|| Front Page Top

#7 Actually DB, the fissile uranium in nuclear weapons usually contains 85% or more of U235. The critical mass for 85% of highly enriched uranium is about 50 kilograms.

Posted by Spot">Spot 2007-01-25 09:49|| 2007-01-25 09:49|| Front Page Top

#8 Weapons grade uranium is customarily 90% or more U235. It emits alpha particles (stopped by skin). A 20% HEU can make a bomb, but it would very large, low yield and dirty. Without neutron triggers/reflectors and other fancy engineering, the critical mass of a U235 bomb is around 50 kg (Little Boy go boom with 60 kg 80% U-235).

Posted by ed 2007-01-25 09:57|| 2007-01-25 09:57|| Front Page Top

#9 Uranium R Us, Inc. - Out of business - we hope...

Posted by BigEd 2007-01-25 12:58|| 2007-01-25 12:58|| Front Page Top

#10 But we can take comfort in knowing that, at 3.5 ounces, that is a quantity in excess of the 3.0 ounces that the TSA has deemed acceptable for 'personal needs' during travel aboard a commercial aircraft, and as such, you can rest assured that the TSA agent on the gate would have had that material 'surrendered.' So it never, ever would have gotten on board any aircraft in the US.

Posted by USN, Ret. 2007-01-25 14:09|| 2007-01-25 14:09|| Front Page Top

#11 The mass of highly-enriched uranium needed for a bomb is one reason plutonium is more frequently used. It only takes about 3Kg of plutonium to create a critical mass. One of the major problems with building nukes is that the critical mass is only part of the problem. There has to be enough contact to "facilitate" the spread of neutrons between various parts of the critical mass. The various pieces of a plutonium weapon are milled to accuracies greater than 1/50,000 of an inch, and polished to mirror brightness. They also have to be kept in near-perfect vacuum conditions, or the surfaces will become contaminated. Making nukes is not as simple as grabbing two hunks of nuke material and slamming them together. Failing to get everything just right will result in a fizzle like the one North Korea experienced. That's one reason the estimates for when Iran could develop a nuclear weapon vary so much.

Posted by Old Patriot">Old Patriot 2007-01-25 14:30|| http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/]">[http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/] 2007-01-25 14:30|| Front Page Top

#12 #10: But we can take comfort in knowing that, at 3.5 ounces, that is a quantity in excess of the 3.0 ounces that the TSA has deemed acceptable for 'personal needs' during travel aboard a commercial aircraft, and as such, you can rest assured that the TSA agent on the gate would have had that material 'surrendered.' So it never, ever would have gotten on board any aircraft in the US.

Care to bet your life on that? From all I"ve heard about the TSA"s incompetence I Don"t.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2007-01-25 15:07|| 2007-01-25 15:07|| Front Page Top

#13 I think he forgot to add the /sarc tag, RJ!

Posted by BA 2007-01-25 15:39|| 2007-01-25 15:39|| Front Page Top

#14 Indeed, sarc tag was lost in the mail.

Posted by USN, Ret. 2007-01-25 17:35|| 2007-01-25 17:35|| Front Page Top

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