Abstract:

On October 24, 2007, Georgian border police officers and operatives from the Special Operations Center of Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia (MIA) for the Autonomous Republic of Adjara arrested an Armenian citizen, who was trying to smuggle to Turkey 2.04 grams (less than an ounce) of the extremely rare radioactive element Lawrencium-103, in the joint operation at the Sarpi checkpoint on the Georgia-Turkey border. Three other Armenian citizens, who were accompanying the culprit, were also arrested by the Georgian law enforcement authorities as potential accomplices.[1,2,3,4] The joint operation was carried out on the basis of the intelligence gathered prior to its commencement. The Armenian citizen, who was trying to smuggle the aforementioned radioactive substance to Turkey, was carrying it in a specifically designed golden container.[2,3]

The National Border Police of Georgia (NBP) told the Novosti-Gruzia news agency that in the interests of the on-going investigation the identities of culprits would not be revealed.[1] The NBP spokeswoman Lela Mchedladze told the Associated Press that the Georgian authorities were trying to establish where the detainees acquired the radioactive substance and what they were planning to do with it.[5] The NBP transferred the arrested Armenian citizens to the MIA Main Directorate for the Autonomous Republic of Adjara for further questioning and investigation.[1,2,3,4]

Editor’s Notes: The Autonomous Republic of Adjara is the part of the Republic of Georgia. The incident took place at the Sarpi border crossing, which is located on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara and, therefore, falls under the jurisdiction of the MIA regional directorate of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. Lawrencium-103 is an extremely rare transuranic element, which is synthesized from Californium. In the periodic table it is denoted by the symbol Lr (formerly Lw). All isotopes of this element are radioactive, but have very short half-lives. The most stable isotope is Lawrencium-262 with a half-life of about four hours. Lawrencium can be used for purely scientific purposes as well as in the high-tech industry.

Abstract Number:  20070320
Headline:  Rare Transuranic Element Lawrencium Seized at the Georgian-Turkish Border
Date:  24 October 2007
Author:  Alexander Melikishvili, Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Material:  Radioactive isotopes, Lawrencium

Sources:

[1] “Chetyre grazhdanina Armenii zaderzhany na gruzino-turetskoy granitse pri popytke vyvezti radioaktivnoe veshchestvo” (Four citizens of Armenia are detained on the Georgian-Turkish border in an attempt to smuggle a radioactive substance), Novosti-Gruzia News Agency, October 26, 2007, <http://www.newsgeorgia.ru>.
[2] “Grazhdanin Armenii zaderzhan za kontrabandu radioaktivnykh veshchestv” (Citizen of Armenia detained for contraband of radioactive substances), Information-Analytical Portal Gruziya Online, October 26, 2007, <http://www.apsny.ge>.
[3] “Radiatsionnoe veshchestvo zaderzhano na granitse” (Radioactive substance seized at the border), Prime News, October 26, 2007, <http://rus.primenewsonline.com>.
[4] “Grazhdanin Armenii pytalsya vyvezti iz Gruzii v Turtsiyu radioaktivnoe veshchestvo” (Citizen of Armenia was trying to smuggle a radioactive substance from Georgia to Turkey), Regnum Information Agency, October 26, 2007, <http://www.regnum.ru/news/905759.html>.
[5] “Armenians detained trying to cross into Turkey with radioactive substance,” Associated Press, October 26, 2007. {Entered 07/14/08 AL}