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Abstract:

Russian TV reported that on 28 July 2000 Federal Secury Service (FSB) agents seized a lead container with 2kg of radioactive material from a private garage in Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia. The radiation level of the container was three times higher than normal. Several other empty containers and a large cache of arms were also found in the garage. The seizure of the material  resulted from a six-month operation led by the FSB. A group of three residents of Vladikavkaz, including a local police officer, as well as a group of foreign citizens are suspected to be involved in the case. The police officer has been detained on suspicion of attempting to sell the radioactive substance, reportedly to a Middle Eastern country. Russian TV suggested that the material inside the container is uranium-238 and also claimed that it could be used as fuel for nuclear power reactors and as a component 'to fill the casings of nuclear munitions.' [Uranium-238 is a fertile isotope from which plutonium-239 can be bred. It comprises 99.3 percent of natural uranium.] The local newspaper Severnaya Osetiya reported that the FSB does not consider the discovery of the material in Vladikavkaz coincidental. It may indicate the existence of a southern trafficking route for nuclear material. The investigation is seeking to determine the source of the uranium.[1]

[1] I.Lyanov, 'Alfa-chastitsy udvoili zharu vo Vladikavkaze,' Severnaya Osetiya, 2 August 2000; in Natsionalnaya Sluzhba Novostey, http://nel.nns.ru.