The plot was foiled by this agent.
Posted on 01/25/2007 1:39:03 PM PST by toast
It was one of the most serious cases of smuggling of nuclear material in recent years: A Russian man, authorities allege, tried to sell a small amount of nuclear-bomb grade uranium in a plastic bag in his jacket pocket.
The buy that took place last summer, it turned out, was a setup by Republic of Georgia authorities, with the help of the CIA. Their quiet sting operation — neither U.S. nor Georgian officials have publicized it — is an unsettling reminder about the possibility of terrorists acquiring nuclear bomb-making material on the black market.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
See, the problem with that is, what if you meet up with a friend on the street, give him a good russian bear hug, and it turns out he's ALSO smuggling weapons-grade uranium in a baggie in HIS shirt pocket?
"Is that a nuclear explosion or are you just happy to see me".....
Posted 4 times yesterday
If I recall my undergrad chemistry, U235 is primarily an alpha emittor, so it's pretty safe just in a plastic bag (in reasonable quantaties, of course).
With safety protocols such as this, it's no wonder 40% of the Russian population stills smokes cigarettes.
Isn't critical mass something like 400kg? Be a heck of a pocket.
Dang-it!!!
I hate when that happens.
Boy. I just hope they didn't do any wire taps to get this guy, or the New York Times is going to be very, very mad.
If this story is true, I home the smuggler has gone into the fertilizer business.
http://www.netflix.com/MovieDisplay?movieid=70055589&trkid=189530&strkid=898381196_0_0
"The Vice Guide To Travel: Brought to you by the off-center oddballs at Vice magazine comes this controversial travel companion to the strangest destinations around the world loaded with danger, drugs and debauchery. Trek to the slums of Rio, see the fallout rubble in Chernobyl, and witness the illegal weapons trade in Pakistan with footage from crazy correspondents who are willing to try anything -- and travel anywhere -- at least once."
And from the Amazon.com write-up "A visit to Bulgaria to buy black market bombs is eerily easy."
Somebody out there is probably collecting that much- a pocketful at a time. Wonder how much they already have...?
It's less than 60kg.
I'm assuming the cheap WWII era stuff --- 20% pure or so.
But yes, high grade U235 critical is about 50kg.
Even then, heck of a jacket pocket.
btt
It's how many times before has this happened undetected that's worrisome.
The plot was foiled by this agent.
Carrying uranium around in your pocket can't be very good for your "tadpoles".
Good point.I believe if a terrorist org or whomever really wanted nuclear material,the biggest hurdle would be adequate funds.For a group like Al Queada with lots of cash,it's more a question of when they'll detonate a nuke,not if they have one.
"For weapons applications, the concentration U-235 must be much higher to create a condition called 'prompt criticality'. This means that it is critical with only the neutrons directly produced in the fission process. For U-235 enriched to 'bomb-grade' uranium, the critical mass may be as small as about 15 kg in a bomb configuration." - op.cit.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nucene/moder.html
15 kg uranium is a sphere about 4.5" in diameter.
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