2001 NIS Nuclear Trafficking

Table of Contents:

Aug. 1, 2011

2001 Reported Thefts and Seizures

January 19: 100kg of Radioactive Material Seized by Transbaykal, Russia Border Guards in 2000
January 25: Radioactive Scrap Metal from Chornobyl Exclusion Zone Seized
January 26: 35 Loads of Radioactive Scrap Interdicted on Russian-Kazakhstani Border in 2000
January 30: Plates Containing Plutonium Seized in Greece
January 30: Radioactive Thorium Seized on Russian-Kazakhstani Border
January 30: Plates Containing Plutonium Seized in Greece (Updated)
January 31: Stolen Radioactive Instruments Seized in Kamchatka Oblast, Russia
January 31: Stolen Radioactive Instruments Seized in Kamchatka Oblast, Russia (Updated)
February 1: Radioactive Material Handed in to Moscow Metro Police
February 27: Radioactive Container Detected in Sverdlovsk Oblast
March 3: "Nuclear Projectile" Seized in Turkey
March 7: Radioactive Cargo Stopped on Russian-Kazakhstani Border
March 10: Moscow Police Halt Radioactive Cesium Deal
April 6: Radioactive Cargo Detained by Kazakhstain Customs at Chinese Border
April 11: Radiation Source Stolen from Plant in Mykolayiv, Ukraine
April 17: Bulgarian Police Seize Radioactive Sphere
April 18: Turkish Police Arrest Osmium Traffickers
April 27: Radioactive Metal Rods Discovered in Vladivostok, Russia
April 28: Russian Naval Officers Arrested for Selling Radioactive Instruments
May: Navy Accused of Violating Spent Fuel Transport Regulations
May 7: Kazakhstani Customs Detains Truck with Radiocative Cargo
May 14: Radioactive Materials Found in Moscow Apartment
May 16: Radiation Source Found in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia
June 1: Plutonium Source Reported Seized in Liepaja, Latvia
June 9: Radiation Source Found in Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia
June 11: Plutonium Source Reported Seized in Kara-Balta, Kyrgyzstan
July 18: Radiation Source Stolen in Orenburg Oblast, Russia
July 23: 5g HEU Seized in Paris, France
July 24: LEU Seized in Batumi, Georgia
August 23: Cesium-137 Stolen in Vologda Oblast, Russia
August 24: Cesium-137 Found on Vaziani Military Base, Georgia
August 26: Uranium Seized from Villager in West Bengal, India
August 29: Zirconium Shipment Seized in Belarus
August 30: Workers at Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrate Plant Arrested for Zirconium Theft
August 30: Osmium-187 Seized, Thieves Arrested in Istanbul, Turkey
August 30: Radioactive Object Found in Nizhniy Novgorod Oblast, Russia
September 13 : Cesium-137 Seized from Car in Nalchik, Russia
September 29: Cesium Stolen, Radioactive Isotope Warheads Reportedly Unsecured in Moldova
October 15: Plutonium Seized from Tbilisi Apartments
October 21: Uranium Seized in Paris in July 2001 Reportedly from NIS (update)
October 31: Cesium-137 Container Stolen from Ore-enriching Plant
November 21: Russian Nuclear Regulatory Official Reveals Nuclear Material Accounting Discrepancy
December 4: LEU Peddlers Arrested in Balashika, Russia
December 18: Cobalt-60 Traffickers Arrested in Yekaterinburg, Russia
December 22: Georgia Arrests Uranium Smuggler
December 22: Uranium Seizure in Vladivostok, Russia Recounted
December 28: Osmium Peddlers Arrested in Moscow, Russia
December 28: Osmium Seized in Russia (Updated)

Other Items (2001)

January 9: Georgian Minister Says Former Russian Military Base Must be Searched for Orphaned Radiation Sources
January 9: Turner, Nunn Form "Nuclear Threat Initiative"
January 10: DOE Task Force Says Russian Nuclear Material Insecure, Urges Increased Assistance
January 15: Russian Atomic Energy Minister Questioned About Nuclear Technology Leakage
January 23: Five Indicted in Romania for Nuclear Smuggling
February 2: Cyprus Denies Involvement in Plutonium Smuggling
February 16: Tajikistani Official Notes Threat of Nuclear Smuggling
February 26: Israel Concerned Iraq May Smuggle in Nuclear Material
February 27: Nuclear Smugglers Convicted in North Ossetia, Russia
May 21: Russian Customs Officials Discuss Nuclear Smuggling Threat
May 21: Physicist Discusses HEU Missing from Research Institute in Sukhumi, Georgia
June 1: Radiation Monitors Tested on Austrian-Hungarian Border
June 1: Radium Traffickers Trial Begins in Novosibirsk, Russia
June 1: Journal Article Assesses Threat of Nuclear Trafficking
July 18: Lithuanian Convicted in US of Attempted Sale of Tactical Nuclear Weapons Deported to Lithuania
August 28: NIS Border Officials Trained in US to Combat Nuclear Materials Smuggling
August 29: Kazakhstani President Warns of Terrorist Nuclear Threat
September 25: Physics Conference in Uzbekistan Discusses Combatting Illicit Trafficking
October 2: Radiation Monitors Installed at Uzbekistani Border Crossings
October 4: IAEA Outlines Program to Combat Nuclear Smuggling
October 22: Ukraine and United States Sign Export and Border Control Agreement
November 1: Threat from "Dirty" Bomb Analyzed
December 11: DOE Antes up $1.2 Million for IAEA to Combat Nuclear Terrorism
December 24: Uzbekistan to Produce Radiation Monitoring Equipment

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.