car full of plutonium found on border of georgia - The Orange Mane

Hotrod · 06-22-2007, 05:55 PM

http://www.boston.com/news/world/eur...+--+World+News

TBILISI, Georgia -- Georgian customs officers sent a car carrying a mixture of plutonium and beryllium back to Azerbaijan after foiling an attempt to smuggle the materials over the border, Georgian television reported yesterday.

found the materials, which can be used in the making of nuclear bombs, during what appeared to be a routine customs check as the car was driven over the border from Azerbaijan, the Imedi tele- vision station reported.

"Georgian customs detected a high level of radiation while checking one of the cars," Imedi reported.

"They discovered plutonium-beryllium."

There were scant details about the find.

The car was sent back to Azerbaijan, although smuggling nuclear materials is a crime under Georgian law.

It was unclear whether Azeri authorities had been informed.

"The decision to send it back was made," Soso Kakushadze, head of the environment ministry's radiation department, told Reuters.

"It was the right decision, as it would have been very expensive to keep it in Georgia, and special conditions are needed," he said.

Bronco_Beerslug · 06-22-2007, 06:01 PM

Probably not an unusual event over there.

International researchers have warned that the world may be awash in unaccounted weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, after completing a latest database of lost and stolen nuclear material.

The new database by the Institute for International Studies (IIS) at Stanford University said the protection of nuclear and radioactive material was "woefully inadequate", pointing to huge gaps of information on the exact amount of missing material.

"It truly is frightening. I think this is the tip of the iceberg," one of the researchers, Lyudmila Zaitseva, said.

The Stanford Database on Nuclear Smuggling, Theft and Orphan Radiation Sources (DSTO) was released as US senators warned that the so-called "dirty" bombs made of discarded radioactive material could have a significant psycho-social effect and cause mass panic among the population.

The database, which will only be available to carefully vetted researchers, is intended to help governments and international agencies track missing nuclear material worldwide amid concerns over the patchy nature of most of the available information.

Chilling estimates

According to the report, about 40 kilograms of weapons-usable uranium and plutonium have been stolen from poorly protected nuclear facilities in the former Soviet Union during the last decade.

It said that while most of that material had been later retrieved, two kilograms of highly enriched uranium from a reactor in Georgia was still missing.
CONT.

theAPAOps5 · 06-22-2007, 06:06 PM

Man I first saw this and thought what in the hell is someone in the State of Georgia going to do with Plutonium. Man I spent 4 years in high school there and while there are very smart people there is even more very dumb people. Then I saw it was the country Georgia and I still didn't feel any better!

mhgaffney · 06-22-2007, 09:31 PM

Is isn't only the world that's awash...Try Denver.

During the Cold War the US Gov't lost 1,100 pounds of plutonium at the Rocky Flats nuclear plant near Denver

That's enough to make 150 Nagasaki size bombs

The stuff ended up in pipes and on the floor, went down the drains etc

And just how toxic is plutonium? 200,000 times as radioactive as uranium

One microscopic speck in your lung is a death sentence.

06-22-2007, 05:55 PM	#1
Hotrod Self Appointed Expert aka Dortoh Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 25,136 Adopt-a-Bronco: Miss I	car full of plutonium found on border of georgia http://www.boston.com/news/world/eur...+--+World+News TBILISI, Georgia -- Georgian customs officers sent a car carrying a mixture of plutonium and beryllium back to Azerbaijan after foiling an attempt to smuggle the materials over the border, Georgian television reported yesterday. found the materials, which can be used in the making of nuclear bombs, during what appeared to be a routine customs check as the car was driven over the border from Azerbaijan, the Imedi tele- vision station reported. "Georgian customs detected a high level of radiation while checking one of the cars," Imedi reported. "They discovered plutonium-beryllium." There were scant details about the find. The car was sent back to Azerbaijan, although smuggling nuclear materials is a crime under Georgian law. It was unclear whether Azeri authorities had been informed. "The decision to send it back was made," Soso Kakushadze, head of the environment ministry's radiation department, told Reuters. "It was the right decision, as it would have been very expensive to keep it in Georgia, and special conditions are needed," he said.

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06-22-2007, 06:01 PM	#2
Bronco_Beerslug Angling in the Deep Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Texas Riviera, Southern Mountains Posts: 24,281	Probably not an unusual event over there. International researchers have warned that the world may be awash in unaccounted weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, after completing a latest database of lost and stolen nuclear material. The new database by the Institute for International Studies (IIS) at Stanford University said the protection of nuclear and radioactive material was "woefully inadequate", pointing to huge gaps of information on the exact amount of missing material. "It truly is frightening. I think this is the tip of the iceberg," one of the researchers, Lyudmila Zaitseva, said. The Stanford Database on Nuclear Smuggling, Theft and Orphan Radiation Sources (DSTO) was released as US senators warned that the so-called "dirty" bombs made of discarded radioactive material could have a significant psycho-social effect and cause mass panic among the population. The database, which will only be available to carefully vetted researchers, is intended to help governments and international agencies track missing nuclear material worldwide amid concerns over the patchy nature of most of the available information. Chilling estimates According to the report, about 40 kilograms of weapons-usable uranium and plutonium have been stolen from poorly protected nuclear facilities in the former Soviet Union during the last decade. It said that while most of that material had been later retrieved, two kilograms of highly enriched uranium from a reactor in Georgia was still missing. CONT.

06-22-2007, 06:06 PM	#3
theAPAOps5 A new beginning! Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Denver Posts: 26,099 Adopt-a-Bronco: Watermock - RIP	Man I first saw this and thought what in the hell is someone in the State of Georgia going to do with Plutonium. Man I spent 4 years in high school there and while there are very smart people there is even more very dumb people. Then I saw it was the country Georgia and I still didn't feel any better!

06-22-2007, 09:31 PM	#4
mhgaffney Ring of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 9,837	Is isn't only the world that's awash...Try Denver. During the Cold War the US Gov't lost 1,100 pounds of plutonium at the Rocky Flats nuclear plant near Denver That's enough to make 150 Nagasaki size bombs The stuff ended up in pipes and on the floor, went down the drains etc And just how toxic is plutonium? 200,000 times as radioactive as uranium One microscopic speck in your lung is a death sentence.