Suspects try to sell uranium for US$1 m

BRATISLAVA – Slovak police said yesterday they have identified as uranium the kilogramme of radioactive material seized from three suspects who allegedly tried to sell it for US$1 million.

Police spokesman Martin Korch could not say whether the seized material had been enriched to weapons-grade. “I can confirm that it was uranium-235 and uranium-238,” he told The Associated Press.Slovak and Hungarian officials were to hold a news conference later Thursday.Authorities said Wednesday they confiscated the uranium during the arrests of two suspects in eastern Slovakia and a third in Hungary.It remained unclear to whom the suspects were trying to peddle the material.Uranium is considered enriched if it contains more than 20 per cent uranium-235, the fissile form of the element.It is considered weapons-grade if it contains at least 85 per cent uranium-235.Natural uranium contains less than 1 per cent of the fissile isotope, and uranium-238 is a lower grade form of the element.The arrests heightened concerns that Eastern Europe could be a source of radioactive material for a so-called ‘dirty bomb’, which would use conventional explosives to scatter radioactive debris.Eastern Slovakia’s border with Ukraine is the European Union’s easternmost frontier, and authorities have spent millions tightening security in the past few years, fearing terrorists or organised crime syndicates could smuggle weapons, explosives and other contraband into the EU.In 2003, police in the Czech Republic, which borders Slovakia, arrested two Slovaks in a sting operation in the city of Brno after they allegedly sold undercover officers natural depleted uranium for US$715 000.Slovak and Hungarian police worked together on the case for several months, Korch said.He would not say how long the suspects were under surveillance, or detail how they were arrested and to whom they were trying to sell the material.Hungary’s National Bureau of Investigation had no immediate comment.Erich Tomas, a spokesman for the Slovak Interior Ministry, and the US Embassy in the capital, Bratislava, said they also had no comment.The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which closely tracks reports of illicit trafficking in radioactive materials, said Thursday it was trying to contact Slovak and Hungarian authorities for more information.Richard Hoskins, the IAEA official who administers the database, said that last year alone the UN nuclear watchdog registered 252 reported cases of radioactive materials that were stolen, missing, smuggled or in the possession of unauthorised individuals – a 385 per cent increase since 2002.But Hoskins cautioned that the spike probably was due at least in part to better reporting and improved law enforcement efforts.Of the 252 cases, about 85 involved thefts or losses, and not all the material was suitable for use in a weapon, he said.Nampa-AP”I can confirm that it was uranium-235 and uranium-238,” he told The Associated Press.Slovak and Hungarian officials were to hold a news conference later Thursday.Authorities said Wednesday they confiscated the uranium during the arrests of two suspects in eastern Slovakia and a third in Hungary.It remained unclear to whom the suspects were trying to peddle the material.Uranium is considered enriched if it contains more than 20 per cent uranium-235, the fissile form of the element.It is considered weapons-grade if it contains at least 85 per cent uranium-235.Natural uranium contains less than 1 per cent of the fissile isotope, and uranium-238 is a lower grade form of the element.The arrests heightened concerns that Eastern Europe could be a source of radioactive material for a so-called ‘dirty bomb’, which would use conventional explosives to scatter radioactive debris.Eastern Slovakia’s border with Ukraine is the European Union’s easternmost frontier, and authorities have spent millions tightening security in the past few years, fearing terrorists or organised crime syndicates could smuggle weapons, explosives and other contraband into the EU.In 2003, police in the Czech Republic, which borders Slovakia, arrested two Slovaks in a sting operation in the city of Brno after they allegedly sold undercover officers natural depleted uranium for US$715 000.Slovak and Hungarian police worked together on the case for several months, Korch said.He would not say how long the suspects were under surveillance, or detail how they were arrested and to whom they were trying to sell the material.Hungary’s National Bureau of Investigation had no immediate comment.Erich Tomas, a spokesman for the Slovak Interior Ministry, and the US Embassy in the capital, Bratislava, said they also had no comment.The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which closely tracks reports of illicit trafficking in radioactive materials, said Thursday it was trying to contact Slovak and Hungarian authorities for more information.Richard Hoskins, the IAEA official who administers the database, said that last year alone the UN nuclear watchdog registered 252 reported cases of radioactive materials that were stolen, missing, smuggled or in the possession of unauthorised individuals – a 385 per cent increase since 2002.But Hoskins cautioned that the spike probably was due at least in part to better reporting and improved law enforcement efforts.Of the 252 cases, about 85 involved thefts or losses, and not all the material was suitable for use in a weapon, he said.Nampa-AP