Truck with radioactive medical isotopes detained at Ukraine-Moldova border

April 21, 2008

Abstract:

Customs officials at the Mamalyga checkpoint (Chernovitskaya region, Ukraine) on the Ukraine-Moldova border detained a DAF truck when the Yantar radiation detection equipment, installed at the checkpoint, sounded. The vehicle was reportedly transporting 5,400 tons of used medical isotopes from the Oncology institute in Chishinau, Moldova, and was en route from Moldova to the Czech Republic. Upon inspection, customs officials determined that the cargo emitted radiation at a level of 60 microroentgen/hr (twice greater than the norm), and thus the cargo was unable to transit through Ukraine without a special permit. The vehicle, which was also reportedly not visibly identified as carrying hazardous materials, was sent back to its point of origin in Moldova.{Entered 9/23/08 AL}

Abstract Number: 20080130
Headline: Truck with radioactive medical isotopes detained on Ukraine-Moldova border
Date: 21 April 2008
Bibliography: "Bukovinskiye pogranichniki ne dopustili v Ukrainu boleye 5 tonn radioaktivnogo gruza iz Moldovy," UNIAN Biznes-On-line, 21 April 2008; in Integrum Techno, www.integrum.ru.

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.