Georgia detains two for trying to sell radioactive uranium
TBILISI - Georgia said on Wednesday it had detained two people for handling and trying to sell $2.8 million worth of radioactive uranium-238, which can be developed into nuclear bomb material.
Western leaders have been concerned about the security of Soviet nuclear weapon materials since the 1991 break-up of the Communist colossus. Ex-Soviet Georgia has since foiled several attempts to sell uranium or other radioactive materials.
Uranium-238 is the least radioactive uranium isotope and makes up more than 99 percent of natural uranium. It cannot be used to produce the chain reaction needed for nuclear weapons, which uranium-235 is suitable for.
In disclosing the arrests in the Georgian Black Sea town of Kobuleti, the state security service did not say whether the two, whom it said were part of a criminal gang, had a buyer for the uranium-238 or where they had acquired it.
