Abkhazia: HEU Stolen from SPhTI Allegedly Found in Abkhazia

April 24, 2012

Abstract:

According to Georgia's "Club of Experts," the HEU claimed to have been stolen from the Sukhumi Physical-Technical University sometime from 1992-1997, was found in a basement of an abandoned house in Abkhazia. An unnamed "trusted" source in Abkhazia claimed that the material was inside a container called a "pig" and provided the "Club of Experts" with a picture of that "pig." According to the source, the container was seized by security services and then "disappeared without a trace".

Note: The container, which appears on the picture published in the article by the "Club of Experts," is a BGI-type source holder designed to house Cs-137 radioactive sources for industrial use.

Abstract Number: 20101002
Headline: Abkhazia: HEU Stolen from SPhTI Allegedly Found in Abkhazia
Date: 2010
Bibliography: "Russia is turning Abkhazia into burial place of radioactive waste," Club of Experts, 13 January 2010, http://eng.expertclub.ge
Material: HEU

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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This article is part of a collection examining reported incidents of nuclear or radioactive materials trafficking in or originating from the Newly Independent States.