Romania: Security of Old Uranium Mines Questioned

April 26, 2012

Abstract:

A website for expatriates in Romania analyzed the theft of 73 kilograms of uranium ore (see case 20110300). The report mentioned the ProTV (Romania's broadcasting company) interview with a manager from the Romanian National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN), who claimed that uranium ore could disappear at any time from Romania's mines, which "have been abandoned by the government." At one of the old mines, a ProTV reporter found traces of recent human activity indicating someone's interest in uranium ore. Most of the mines are unprotected or protected poorly with a few guards and no fence around the premises. According to the report, Raul Reyes, one of the Colombian rebel leaders, visited Romania in January 2008 to meet with a Ukrainian dealer to buy uranium.

Abstract Number: 20111008
Headline: Romania: Security of Old Uranium Mines Questioned
Date: December 2011
Bibliography: "Romanian Uranium Missing," December 2011, Bucharest Expat, http://bucharestexpat.com
Material: Uranium ore

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.