Swedish uranium may be missing

Large amounts of uranium may have gone missing from a nuclear technology company in Sweden. The American Central Intelligence Agency fears a worst-case scenario where the material has already fallen into terrorist hands, newspaper Expressen reports.

"The company (Ranstad Mineral) is a security risk and we have taken the matter to top level to get the Swedes to stop them," a CIA spokesman told the Swedish newspaper.

The CIA operative claims to know that the little Swedish company has educated Syrian nuclear physicists in the treatment of uranium. He also has information that a Swedish consultancy has sold nuclear equipment to Syria that can be used in the treatment of radioactive material.

"If it transpires that radioactive or nuclear material has been sent on from Sweden to Syria then this is a very serious matter for Sweden," the CIA source said.

After a meeting with the CIA operative Swedish authorities raided Ranstad Mineral several times and shut the company down on the grounds of deficient security.

"It was one of the worst things I have seen. The company has extremely serious deficiencies in its registration system," said Carl Magnus Larsson, divisional leader of the Swedish Radiation Protection Authority after their inspection.

Bogus story!!

Ranstad Mineraler did lose their license but they have nothing to do with weaponsgrade plutonium, they collected, processed and stored low grade, low radient garbage. They were however found unable to comply with the Swedish Atomic Agencys rules.

What freaking CIA agent operative, what a bunch of shit. What Swedish newspaper? Aftenposten is Norweigan, this is just typical Norweigan-younger-sibling-bickering, nothing else. Syrian connection...? Unworthy of Freeper to keep a thread like this.

Hi there.... I love Forsberg, snuff and Sweden. But, sheeez. You're defensive/aggressive reaction is a tad too much.

This is a story from Expressen. One of the major Swedish papers, albeit a tabloid.

Plutonium is not mentioned in the story at all. Uranium is. It can be enriched to make a nuclear bomb, as well as obviously constitute material for a dirty bomb.

ANd, btw as an intended insult towards sweden. It is one of the most backward socialist, political correct shitholes on the planet. I am from Norway, and were are right along with you there. But, at least we don't have Mona Sahlin.

Other than that I almost have to say that I love sweden more than my own country. Jag vil leva, jag vil dø i norden. That's why it's so sad to watch what is going on. Just look at Rosengaard in Malmø.

Syria’s Swedish Nukes?

Der Spiegel reports that Swedish authorities and the CIA are investigating the possibility that a Swedish technology company has been secretly and illegally supplying nuclear capabilities to Syria.[http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,288403,00.html]

Between 1999 and 2002, a now closed Swedish nuclear facility, “Ranstad Mineral” had been importing radioactive waste from the German Hanau nuclear plant for reprocessing in order to extract uranium. Technicians had been sent from Syria to train on the project. During this period, a few grams of plutonium that originated from the German plant mysteriously disappeared from Ranstad Mineral’s inventory

[some of this had apparently been illegally dumped but questions remain].

Meanwhile, the Swedish company “Meab” has built a plant in the Syrian city of Homs, publicly described as a “fertilizer factory”, but which is suspected by western intelligence of being a center of WMD development. One red-flag: the “fertilizer factory” is operated by the Syrian Atomic Energy Commission, (SAEC). Another red flag: the “fertilizer factory” is said to be similar in construction to the Ranstad Mineral uranium extraction facility.

Meab’s chief executive, Dr. Hans Reinhardt, claims his company’s only connection to Syria really does involve fertilizer and/or the “food industry” and that he doesn’t know what “SAEC” stands for. This stretches credulity, as this page on Meab’s website [http://www.meab-mx.se/en/service_turnkey_syrien.htm] would suggest.

UPDATE: The Der Spiegel article was largely sourced from the following two articles from the Stockholm daily Expressen: here [http://www.expressen.se/index.jsp?a=108342] and here [http://www.expressen.se/index.jsp?a=107807]. Mårten Barck has a translation of one here [http://watch.windsofchange.net/themes_80.htm] and quotes the other (see Watch, Feb. 28 [http://watch.windsofchange.net/]).
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at 09:30 AM
http://www.usefulwork.com/shark/archives/2004_02.html

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