Dual-Use Aluminum Rods Seized in Siberia

Nov. 3, 2009

Abstract:

Siberian customs officials stopped local businessmen who tried to transport dual-use aluminum rods from Novosibirsk to Kazakhstan, media reported on November 3, 2009. The businessmen reportedly presented documents indicating that aluminum rods were not subject to nonproliferation export control restrictions. Upon closer inspection, however, the tensile strength of the rods was found to be higher than the allowable limit, placing them on the dual-use list according to the presidential decree “On approval of the list of dual-use equipment and materials and associated technologies used for nuclear purposes in relation to which export control is established.” Their export thus required licensing by the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control.

A criminal case was opened under Article 188, Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code (the movement of tools or equipment under special control). Violation of this article is punishable by imprisonment for three to seven years. News reports did not indicate the number or nationality of the detained businessmen. {Entered PH}

Abstract Number: 20090220
Headline: Dual-Use Aluminum Rods Seized in Siberia
Date: 3 November 2009
Bibliography: "V Sibiri zaderzhan kontrabandnyy alyuminiy, prigodnyy dlya primeneniya v yadernykh tselyakh," 19rus.info, 3 November 2009, http://www.19rus.info/news/45734.html.
Material: Dual-use

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.