Posted on 01/29/2008 7:39:04 PM PST by nuconvert
Kyrgyzstan: Authorities Seize Radioactive Material Bound For Iran
January 10, 2008
If the world needed reminding of the ongoing threat posed by nuclear materials left unsecured and scattered across the former Soviet Union, it's got it now.
On January 9, Kyrgyz officials announced that they had taken possession of a small load of a radioactive substance discovered aboard a train bound for Iran. The material has been placed in a special area in Kyrgyzstan, but questions are being raised about the nature and quantity of the substance, who was behind its transport, and how the train carrying it crossed three border checkpoints before being detected.
While it might simply be a coincidence that the train was bound for Iran, such a destination is also likely to raise eyebrows, given Western concerns over Tehran's nuclear activities and alleged support of terrorism.
Kyrgyz officials are looking for answers, but their behavior has raised questions, too. Why, for example, did it take them nine days to announce the discovery of the material, which was found on December 31 when radiation detectors alerted Uzbek border guards? They promptly sent the train back to Kyrgyzstan.
The Kyrgyz National Security Service continues to decline comment on that and other questions, and Almabek Aitikeev, a departmental head in the Kyrgyz Emergency Situations Ministry, offered only generalities about the quantity of the material when asked by RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service.
"Not quite a bucketload of radioactive waste material was there mixed in with sand, dust, and snow," Aitikeev said. "We did our work and sealed up the waste on December 31."
Through Three Border Checks
Kubanych Noruzbaev, an official from the Kyrgyz Ecology and Environmental Protection Ministry, said on January 10 that the material was cesium-137, a product of nuclear reactors and weapons testing that is often used in medical devices and gauges. But it could also be used in a crude radioactive explosive device -- a "dirty bomb" -- and underscores the fact that despite some progress since 1991, parts of the former Soviet Union are still littered with sites where lethal radioactive materials remain largely unsecured.
Noruzbaev said the cargo train belonged to a Tajik firm but the cargo was loaded by Kyrgyzstan's state railway company, Temir, in Kyrgyzstan with other material and was bound for Iran. Noruzbaev also questioned how the train made it so far before being detected by Uzbek border guards.
"It passed through our border, the Kyrgyz border [and] it passed through two border checkpoints in Kazakhstan, entering and exiting [Kazakhstan]," Noruzbaev said. "Only on the territory of Uzbekistan was it discovered, and they [the Uzbeks] sent the train back to us."
Noruzbaev said the radioactive material should have been discovered long before the train arrived in Uzbekistan. "But how could it happen that it was not detected when it passed through special checkpoints?" Noruzbaev said. "And even more so, how could a [radioactive] source like cesium-137 or -140 pass [without detection]?"
'You Would Get Burns'
The Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg reported on January 9 that the levels of radiation being emitted from the train car were so high that the Emergency Situations Ministry asked for volunteers to go and unload the cargo. Four people wearing special protective clothing volunteered to venture into the wagon where they discovered the source of the radiation: dust and waste material on the floor, which they swept up and deposited in a bucket. The bucket was then sealed in concrete and stored in a special facility.
Reports say the material emitted 1,000 milliroentgen per hour, which is considered a dangerous level. Most companies handling such material consider 5,000 milliroentgen per 2,000-hour work year to be the "regulatory upper limit" for safety.
"It emits radiation, radioactive waves, and they are harmful, maybe not in mediocre amounts but prolonged exposure," Noruzbaev said. "If you held it a while, depending on the dosage, you would get burns of varying degrees."
But how did the material make it onto the train? In an interview on January 9 with RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service, Emergency Situations Minister Kamchybek Tashiev was vague. "We established a commission immediately after the information about [the radioactive material] became known," Tashiev said. "The commission arrived at the site and removed the radioactive waste according to the law on radioactive security. In such a way, we took every measure to stop the spread of any radioactive substance among the populace."
Kubat Osmonbetov, a geologist, told RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service that cesium-137 and cesium-140 are definitely lethal in large doses. Osmonbetov also noted that there is a uranium-processing plant in northern Tajikistan, raising the possibility that the Tajik train in question may have been used in the past to transport radioactive material and that remains of that material had somehow been left in the wagon.
pong
ping.
ping
BTW, did you see the Cavuto/Albright videos?
more...
Kyrgyzstan: IAEA Seeks Answers To Radioactive Seizure
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/01/2c4917b9-872b-4d2c-91d3-f81a1e16b3f4.html
I got a ping to those, but hadn’t gotten a chance to watch as I was out of town on a bad connection — thank you for the reminder!!
LOVED it!! Cavuto rocks!!
Whoa.
I am sure that it was to be used in the manufacture of cuddly plush toys and baby milk.
I used to work in a nuclear power plant. Once, we recieved notice about a van parked in a nearby major city that had radioactive material inside. It turned out to be a van from a large hospital and it contained some medical isotopes. Yep, it was cesium. Wow! Were the police really hyper over this, and that was way back in 1988.
That kind of radioactive waste is typical of medical offices. Do they have medical facitlities in Central Asia and Russia? I believe so. Though I am surprised they don’t keep better control of it, shipping a bucket-full of low-level radioactive medical waste is not deserving of international notice.
bump
Radio Free Europe: Covering the news that the Mainstream Media refuses to cover.
Nuff said!
Good for Kyrgyzstan.
Its a bloody miracle that no bomb from the former Soviet Union has gone off. But their tech has spread...
Link? I didn’t see anything on the Your World home page.
Cavuto and Brit are the only two shows on FNC halfway worth watching.
Here is a link from the Fox Business Channel. It is an interview between Albright and Cavuto. Cavuto, the mild, lays into her like you would not believe. This is a must watch. You will have to put the name Albright in the search box and click to find the videos. There are two sections. It gets very good a few minutes into the first sections. It is wonderful! Chgogal’s rating - 5 Stars!!!!
Thanks, will take a look at that a little later.
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