Georgia’s security service said on Thursday (April 28) it had detained a group of five Georgian citizens who were trying to sell $3 million worth of the radioactive materials uranium-238 and uranium-235.
Georgia’s security service did not say whether the group had a buyer for the radioactive materials. Nor did it say where the group had acquired it.
Georgia is a former member of the Soviet Union and world leaders have been concerned about the security of Soviet nuclear weapons and stockpiles since it broke up in 1991.
DETAINED IN URANIUM ARREST
Georgia’s security service detained six Georgian and Armenian citizens who were trying to sell $200 million worth of radioactive materials earlier this month.
“Five citizens of Georgia were detained in Kobuleti (Georgia) at the moment of an illegal sale of the radioactive substance Uranium. The abovementioned persons were detained as they brought the substance to an apartment in Kobuleti in an attempt to sell it,” security service investigator Savle Motiashvili told a news briefing.
“The were aiming to sell the uranium for $3 million. The radiology review revealed that the substance Uranium, with a total weight of 1 kilogram and 665 grammes contained two radioactive isotopes,” he said.
Motiashvili added that given gamma ray emissions and the identity of the source, direct and long-term exposure to the substance was dangerous to life and health.
Georgian authorities test Uranium-238 confiscated in an attempt to sell the radioactive material
A Tbilisi city court sentenced the members of the group to pre-trial detention. They face five to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
The concern of the sale of former Soviet radioactive materials is that they may be used by terror groups, such as ISIS, in the construction of dirty bombs. Much of the Cold War era material remains unaccounted for.
The post Uranium Thieves Arrested In Soviet Material Selloff appeared first on TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles.
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