German tourist apprehended at Pulkovo airport after setting off radiation detection alarm

April 10, 2009

Abstract:

A German tourist, traveling to St. Petersburg from Prague, was detained at Pulkovo airport on 10 April 2009 after setting off a radiation detection alarm. The Yantar-3 system picked up the signal when a representative of the Customs Department for the Control of Fissile and Radioactive Materials searched the personal belongings of the tourist.

The source of the radiation was discovered to be an army compass weighing 138 grams and containing radium-226 and thorium-232. The radiation measurement system indicated that the source emitted radiation of 2400 microroentgen/hour, while the background radiation was 12 microroentgen/hour. The compass was confiscated and remains at a special temporary storage. {Entered PH}

Abstract Number: 20090140
Headline: German tourist apprehended at Pulkovo airport after setting off radiation detection alarm
Date: 10 April 2009
Bibliography: “V ‘Pulkovo’ zaderzhali radioaktivnogo nemtsa,” Sever Info, 13 April 2009, http://www.severinfo.ru/news/26791
Material: Radium/Thorium

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.