1997 NIS Nuclear Trafficking

Table of Contents:

Jan. 1, 1997

1997 Reported Thefts and Seizures

1997: One Point Safe
January 5 : Russia Thwarting U.S. Bid to Secure Nuclear Cache
January 7: Insecure Nuclear Materials
January 14: Russia Vows to Remove Nuclear Fuel from Georgia
January 16: The Uranium Pellets Found on Teleaga's Smugglers Originate in Romania
January 17: Interim Report Splits Plutonium Committee
January 18: Police Meeting Reviews Crime Situation in 1996
January 30: BND Agent Convicted of Perjury for Asserting Pu Was in Germany
January 30: Schmidbauer Testifies before Plutonium Smuggling Committee
January 30: Kazakhstan: Four People Detained Trying to Sell Nuclear Materials
February 3: CIA Identifies Russian Agents as Plutonium Dealers
February 5: Discussion with Uzbek Ministry of Extraordinary Situations
February 5: Segodnya Report on 'Plutonium Scandal'
February 6: 1994 Plutonium Smuggling Was Deed of KGB, Bonn Now Claims
February 7: Fears Grow Over Russia's Nuclear Arsenal
February 7: Feds: Club Owner Tried to Sell Sub
February 7: Money Laundering In Latvia Discussed
February 8: Five Russians Cited as Plutonium Deal Masterminds
February 8: Interview with Major General Yuriy Kobaladze
February 10: Schmidbauer's Agent's Story
February 13: Period Polukraska
February 19: Four Slovaks Charged with Illegal Possession of Uranium
February 20: 'Radioactive Material' Seized on Border
February 21: Russian Nuclear Forces in Good Shape
February 21: V Ust'-Kamenogorske Zavershilsya Sudebnyy Protsess Po Delu O Khishchenii Yadernogo Topliva I Redkikh Metallov
March 1: Clinton's Shady Messenger: Reputed Arms Smuggler Took Plea to Ukranian Leader
March 5: Russia 'Nuclear Power Industry' Special Services Plutonium Arrested in August 1994 Proves to Be of Non-Russian Origin
March 6: Kaliningrad Customs Seizes Radioactive Scrap
March 7: Netanyahu on FRD (Further Redeployment) Decision, Opposition
March 20: Expert Says Terrorists May Acquire Self-Made Nuclear Explosives
March 21: Nuclear Material 'Smuggled to Italy in Refugee Exodus
March 22: Arestovany Radioaktivniy Kontrabandisty
March 27: Nuclear Proliferation: Nuclear Report Rings Alarm
Spring: Bombing Around Russia
April 1: Traces of Uranium Found Near 1980 Ustica Crash Site
April 1: Turk Police Arrest Three for Smuggling Heavy Metal
April 3: Agents Prevent Sale of Uranium Stolen from Plant
April 3: Customs Officers Turn Back Radioactive Truck
April 5: Sidite, Razlagayete Molekuly Na Atomy
April 7: Experts Reportedly Say Uranium Seized in Skopje Came from Bulgaria
April 10: Loose Nukes: Black Market Sales of Nuclear Weapons and Material in Russia
April 11: Ministry Denies Nuclear Materials Thefts from Closed Complex
April 12: Security Police Concerned by Nuclear Materials, Narcotics
April 1997: 'Yaderniy Chemodanchik' B Turtsii Sprosa Ne Nashel
April 16: Large Quantities of Radioactive Scrap Seized in Past Years
April 16: Police Discover Cargo of Radioactive Copper
April 17: Notorious Smuggler Caught with Heroin, Uranium Samples
April 18: Dumped Isotope Causes Radiation Surge in Western Town
April 18: Atomic Energy Ministry Ends Tests on 'Stolen' Plutonium
April 21: Russia Denies Nuclear Warhead Theft
April 23: Nuclear Thefts 'Commonplace' at Chelyabinsk Facility
April 24: Accused Plutonium Smuggler Returned to Columbia
April 25: Fissile Material Confiscated in Russia
April 26: Radioactively Contaminated Pipes Discovered in Bila Tserkva
May: Discussions with Lithuanian Nuclear Official
May-June: Smuggling Update
May 1: Nuclear Striptease: What Threat Is Posed By 'Leakage' of National Defense Secrets?
May 10: Kabul Arrests Two Men on Uranium Smuggling Charge
May 13: Beryllium Removed from Bank for Unknown Location
May 13: Interview with Belarusian KGB Chief: Intelligence Services of Many Countries Are Interested in Belarus
May 14: Russian Defense Minister: Strategic Nuclear Forces under Reliable Control
May 14: Ukrast Uran? Net Nichego Proshche
May 17: Taleban Claim to Have Seized Uranium Left by Soviet Army
May 19: Nuclear Disarray
May 20: Origins of Radioactive Container Sought
May 26: Police Seize 850 Grams of Uranium Dioxide in Bursa
May 29: Tambov Police Arrest Thieves of Radioactive Material
June: Russia's Mafiyas: The New Revolution
June: Defector Testifies on DPRK Nuclear Development
June 11: Kazakhs Seize Freight Cars Bearing Raw Natural Uranium
June 12: Radioactive Uranium Case Appears to Be More Promising
June 13: Update on Stolen Uranium in Lithuania
June 13: Uran Byl Ukraden S Ignaliskoy AES
June 16: Russia's 'Loose Nukes:' A Myth That Distorts U.S. Policy
June 16: Radioactive Crucifix Found on Warsaw-Moscow Train
June 16: Mechenyye Izotopy
June 23: Preventive Defense
June 25: Radioactive Scrap Metal from Turkish Ship Taken to Odessa
June 25: FSB, Ministry Argue Over 1994 'Munich Plutonium' Case
July: Indictment of Alexander Darichev, Alexandr Pogrebezskij, and Angelo Zeini
July 1: Two Lithuanians Accused of Trying to Sell Nuclear Weapons
July 1: Pentagon Concerned About Nuke Smuggling
July 2: Uranium Trafficking Suspected in Poland
July 2: Pogreba Khranyat Radiatsiyu
July 2: Lithuanian MoD Denies Role in U.S. Nuclear Warhead [Operation]
July 2: Bulgaria Denies Role in U.S. Nuclear Arms Sales
July 9: Press Conference by President Clinton in Madrid, Spain
July 9: Beryllium Dioxide Stolen from Plant
July 9: Presentation on Prague Cae
July 10: Miami Grand Jury Indicts Three in Arms Smuggle Plot
July 10-16: Lithuanians Caught with 'Hot' Goods
July 15: New System to Check Radioactivity of Freight Items
July 15: Veroyatnost Pokhishcheniya Yadernikh Boyepripasov
July 16: Russian Official: It Is Possible to Steal a Nuclear Bomb
July 16: Prodavat Uran Otstavnyye Voyennyye Priyezhayut V Moskvu
July 18: Russian Plutonium Plant Gets Computerized Security System
July 21: U.S. 'Invasion' of Russian Nuclear Plants Has Begun
July 22: Large Radioactive Cargo Detained in Lithuania's Border
July 24: Some Customs Officials Irritated by Their Administration
July 28-30: International Cooperation to Combat Illicit Nuclear Trafficking
July 28-30: International Cooperation on Combating Illicit Trafficking in Nuclear
July 28-30: Countering the Threat: DOE's Nuclear Smuggling Program Plan
July 31-August 6: Nuclear Arsenals Stored in Ordinary Hangars
July 31: Opasnaya Nakhodka
August 15: 15 Cases Of Misuse of Radioactive Materials in 1996
August 20: Less Well Known Cases of Nuclear Terrorism and Nuclear Diversion in Russia
August 28: 3 September 1997: Arms Dealers' Documents Fake
August 29-September 4: Yaderniy Shantazh
August 30: Police Thwart Plan to Dump Nuclear Waste Off Cyprus
Fall: Russian Gyroscopes for Iraq
Fall: Russian Organized Crime: Global Organized Crime Project
September 5: Germany: Plutonium Found in an Industrial Area Near Hanover
September 5: Germany: No Radioactive Material Found Near Hanover
September 5: Russia Missing Scores of Bombs-Lebed
September 5: No Support Found for Report of Lost Russian Suitcase-Sized Nuclear Weapons
September 7: The Perfect Terrorist Weapon
September 8: Missing Nukes in Baltics
September 8: Lebed Stokes Fear of Nuclear Weapons Theft
September 1908-1997: Lebed's Statement Laughable: A Commentary
September 8: Low-Grade Nuclear Material A Global Threat Too
September 9: Lebed Pugayet Yadernymi Keysami
September 10: Tactical Nukes Lost in Ukraine? Don't Be Silly
September 10: Lebed Soldiers on with Missing Bomb Claim
September 10: Voyennyye Oprovergayut Zayavleniya Lebedya
September 10: Russian Ministry Refutes Reports of Lost Nuclear Weapons
September 12: Russian Missile Gyroscopes Were Sold to Iraq: Smuggling Spotlights Holes in Moscow's Defense-Industrial Complex
September 12: Yaderniy Terrorism Ne Imeyet Natsionalnosti
September 15: Radioactive Container Found in Moldovan Wood
September 17: 23 September 1997: Uranium Smuggling Case Botched, Judge Tells Cops
September 18: Stolen Uranium Seized in Russia's North Caucasus
September 19: Russia's Lebed Insists Nuclear Bombs Are Missing
September 20: Sotrudniki Severo- Kavkazskogo RUOP Izyato Okolo 4 Kg Urana-238
September 22: Znamenityy Uchenyy Utverzhdaet: Vozmozhno, My Vse Sidim Na Chemodanakh. Yadernykh
September 23: Another Nuclear Warning in Russia
September 24: Ytka Uz Yadernykh Chemodanchikov
September 25: Detecting Traffic in Weapons of Mass Destruction
September 25: Nuclear Fact or Fiction
September 25: Russia Says It Never Produced Nuclear Suitcases
September 25: Terrorist Attack on U.S.-Fact or Fiction
September 26: And What Do We Have in These Cases? The Scandal Around Lebed's 100 Nuclear Cases Grows
September 26: Russian Calls Suitcase Nukes Too Expensive
September 29: Potter/Ewell Notes from Kurchatov/Semipalatinsk Conference and Excursions
September 29-October 3: Statement
October 1909- 1997: Yadernaya Kontrabanda Grozit Tsepnoy Reaktsiyey
October 1: Testimony of Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty
Third Quarter: Nuclear Material Trafficking and Physical Security
October 1: Alexander Lebed's Open Letter
October 1: Congressional Testimony Before the House Committee on International Relations
October 1: Testimony by Arnold S. Warshawsky
October 1: Statement of Louis J. Freeh
October 1: Preventing Terrorism with Weapons of Mass Destruction, A Proposed New Initiative
October 1: Opening Statement
October 1: Defense Officials Deny Lebed's Nuclear Suitcase Claims
October 2: Testimony by Senator Richard Lugar, Hearing on Security of Russian Nuclear Weapons and Materials
October 2: Hearing of the House National Security Committee Subcommittee on Military Research and Development
October 2: Is Lebed Russia's Loosest Cannon?
October 3: 'Suitcase Weapons Exist, Built for 'Terrorist Purposes
October 4: Russia: Far East Tightens Nuclear Checks
October 5: Radiation Sickness Hits 10 Georgian Border Guards
October 5: Delegates Seek Nuclear Safeguards
October 7: Po Ulitsam Stolitsy Razgulyayut Radioaktivnye Grazhdane
October 7: Lebed Otreksya Ot Yadernykh Chemodanchikov
October 11: Est Li Zamok U Yadernogo Chemodanchika
October 14: Tighter Border Controls Against Russian N- Smugglers Planned
October 15: Nuclear Smuggling from East Reportedly Diminishing
October 15: Interior Minister Says Reports of Russian Crime Are Exaggerated
October 19: Nuclear Dangers
October 20: Russian Mob Shies Away from Nuclear Theft-So Far
October 23: Kradenyy Plutoniy Okazalsya Ne Rossiskim, A Beskhodnim
October 27: Doslovno. Gosatomnadzor Rossii: Obnaruzheno Propazha 145 Gramm Urana S Obogashcheniyem 90 Protsentov
October 28: Radioactive Ampule Goes 'Missing' in Urals
October 30: Atomic Energy Minister Refutes NYT 'Supercomputers' Story
October 31: Altay Officers Arrest Thieves of Uranium Pellets in Russia
October 31: Tamozhennyy Post Na Yadernom Obekte
November 1910-1997: V Rossii Est Yaderniye Zaryady, Kotoriye Ne Kontroliruyet Prezident
November 1910-1997: U.S. General Applauds Security Of Russian Nukes
November: Are Suitcase Nukes on The Loose? The Evidence Behind The Lebed Controversy
November 10: Russia Loses Its Suitcase N-Bombs
November 11: Defense Against Soviet-Era Weapons Lacks Adequate Response Training
November 12: Policemen Confiscate 72 Kg of Mercury in Tambov
November 13: Ignalina Nuclear Rod Thieves Sentenced
November 14: Gor I Chernomyrdin Pomogli Ostanovit Khishcheniya Urana
November 14: FSB I Militsiya Perestrelyalis Iz-za Torgovtsev Uranom
November 17: BND Warns Against Nuclear Smuggling
November 18: Official Rules Out Possible Leakage of Nuclear Weapons in Russia
November 19: Security Authorities See Decline in Nuclear Smuggling
November 21: Police Arrest Four Uranium Traffickers in Bucharest
November 26: Rubidium-87 Confiscated on Ukraine-Belarus Border
December: Polemika: Organizovannaya Prestupnost + Mestnyye Elity = Yaderniy Shantazh
December 5: Terroristi Mogli Zakhvatit AES za odnu minutu
December 14: An Old Tale of Swindle of Nuclear Proportions Resurfaces in Bosnia

This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, or agents. Copyright © 2011 by MIIS.

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The NIS Nuclear Trafficking Collection highlights proliferation-significant cases of nuclear materials diversion, and includes abstracts on all reported instances of trafficking in nuclear and radioactive materials in or from the Newly Independent States from 1991 to the present.