Nuclear Isotopes From Russia: Wholesale And Retail

Aug. 25, 1995

Abstract:

In the spring of 1993 a courier reportedly was stopped at the Serov- Moscow train station with a collection of stable isotopes weighing 100 grams and worth $400,000. The courier indicated that the isotopes were stolen and had been produced at the 'Elktrokhimpribor' plant at Sverdlovsk-45. Organized crime was implicated in the smuggling attempt. An investigation found that Mark Pashkovsky, the Director of the Anglo-Soviet firm 'Izoflex' at the Kurchatov Institute and the head of its English partner, the Amershan firm, worked with Aleksandr Pokidyshev, the head of the Russian Center of Stable Isotopes, on the illegal sale of more than $20 million worth of isotopes from January 1991- October 1992. Until the end of 1992 stable isotopes reportedly were not subject to state licensing in Russia.

Sverdlovsk-45 in Russia and Oak Ridge Laboratories in the United States are the major producers of stable isotopes in the world.

Abstract Number: 19951701
Headline: Nuclear Isotopes From Russia: Wholesale And Retail
Date: 25 August 1995
Bibliography: Prism, pp. 5-7
Author: Aleksandr Zhillin
Material: nuclear isotopes

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.

About

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