Native of Belorussia tried to sell half a kilo of uranium

May 22, 2002

Abstract:

On 22 May 2002 Izvestiya reported that Moscow police had arrested a homeless Belarusian named Nikolai Shitik who was in possession of 500 grams of what it describes as "weapons-grade uranium." An unspecified Moscow FSB official said Shitik most likely came to Moscow intending to sell the uranium. According to Izvestiya, Interfax reported that the seized material was uranium-238. The FSB official was not able to comment on the type of the material. The FSB source did say that the material seized had been immediately sent to Radon Special Combine for analysis, but that the results had not been received yet. [Russia's sixteen Radon Special Combines store and dispose of radioactive wastes. They do not typically handle nuclear materials, such as uranium. The fact that the seized material was sent to Radon suggests that it was not nuclear material, much less weapons-grade nuclear material.]

Abstract Number: 20020560
Headline: Urozhenets Belorussii popytalsya prodat polkilo urana [Native of Belorussia tried to sell half a kilo of uranium]
Date: 22 May 2002
Bibliography: Izvestiya, 22 May 2002; in Integrum Techno database, http://www.integrum.com
Author: Aleksandr Korzun
Material: radioactive waste (uranium?)

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.