Man With Uranium Caught at Ukraine Border

yahoo ^ | 2/24/04

[knak]

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukrainian border guards stopped a man trying to take nearly a pound of uranium into Hungary on Tuesday, an official said.

Border guards arrested the driver of a passenger van at the Tisa checkpoint after finding a container containing the potential nuclear bomb fuel, said border guards' spokesman Yevheniy Bargman.

It was unclear whether the uranium was in natural ore form or had been enriched for potential use in reactors or weapons.

Bargman said the man told officials he was paid an unspecified sum of money by men at a nearby gas station to take the material to Hungary for use "by a dentist's office."

Officials will send the material to Kiev, the capital, for analysis.

It was unclear where the uranium originated.

The United States and other nations repeatedly have voiced serious concern about the illegal trade in nuclear materials from the former Soviet Union.

Washington has bolstered programs to assist Ukraine in tightening its border controls to prevent weapons of mass destruction technology, materials and illegal weapons from flowing in and out of the country.

[knak]

glad they caught him!

[Indy Pendance]

Bargman said the man told officials he was paid an unspecified sum of money by men at a nearby gas station to take the material to Hungary for use "by a dentist's office."

Right......

[eastforker]

This smells like a set up to me. Publicity to show they are doing their part on the WOT.

[b4its2late]

It was unclear where the uranium originated.

Uranus would be my guess.

[mvpel]

One pound of solid uranium is a cube 2.9cm on a side, or a touch over 1 1/8 inches. It could be held in the palm of your hand or stuck in your pocket.

[MD_Willington_1976]

Make him spill the beans or make him eat it...

[Mr. K]

Testing the borders?

[Mr. K]

Testing the borders?

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

It was the 300lb lead box that gave him away.

[Charles Henrickson]

Man With Uranium Caught at Ukraine Border

Wouldn't that make it, "Ukranium"?

[OXENinFLA]

the man told officials he was paid an unspecified sum of money by men at a nearby gas station to take the material to Hungary for use "by a dentist's office."

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight

And I bet he even had an appointment w/ the dentist.

[marktuoni]

I used the "Ukranium being the chief export from the Ukraine" joke in 1991 in a history class...the proffessor didn't think it was funny.

I still do!!! Kudos!

[steve8714]

mined by the Klingons...

[mvpel]

Or having 50 people smuggle a pound apiece (1-1/8" cube, remember) and gathering up enough to assemble a critical mass. You'd have to hold a pound of enriched uranium continuously for about a year to get enough radiation for any sort of serious skin damage, disregarding the skin's healing response, so there's no significant health risk to the smugglers.

http://www.vanderbilt.edu/radsafe/9708/msg00473.html

[VadeRetro]

Yep. An ingot the size (7" x 3" x 1.75") of a Ft. Knox gold bar would weigh a bit over 26 pounds versus 27.4 for the real gold bar. The same thing made of lead would only weigh about 16 pounds.

[valkyrieanne]

I hope he carried it *very* close to his gonads...

[xsmommy]

ceej, if you do your eastern european tour this summer, leave URanium at home...

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

A guy would have to have rocks in his head the size of Gibraltar to carry something because "some total stranger paid me to do it".

I'm betting the Ukrainian police made the guy complete his delivery (and threatened to shoot him if he tried to run) and arrested everybody there.

[DonnerT]

It's a feint. The real stuff went another route.