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Nuclear contraband on sale
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| 30 June 2003 |
On 13 June, a Thai national was arrested in Bangkok with a large quantity - reportedly 30kg - of caesium-137, a radioactive isotope that could be used in a radiological weapon (a so-called 'dirty bomb'). Narong Penanam confessed he had smuggled the radioactive material into Thailand from neighbouring Laos. He was detained in a sting operation by officers posing as potential buyers.
It is believed that the suspect's intended customers - possibly the Southeast Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiah - were planning to target US interests in Thailand, perhaps the embassy or other diplomatic premises. US customs officials had asked the Thai police to investigate uranium trading in Thailand, which they suspected was bound for terrorist groups in Iraq or North Korea.
It is not clear if the 30kg seized in Thailand included the weight of the case as well as the caesium-137, which could turn out to weigh as little as 100g. Regardless of the amount seized, the arrest highlights the continuing problem of nuclear smuggling.
The use of even a small amount of caesium in a radiological weapon would necessitate an expensive decontamination operation and, apart from injuries caused by the actual explosion, could cause a rise in cancer cases in the long term. Uranium, however, would have to be highly enriched for use in even a crude nuclear device.
On 18 May it was reported that during a routine raid, Georgian police seized strontium and caesium in boxes from the boot of a taxi in the capital, Tblisi. The police suspect the substances were being smuggled into Turkey. A device made from that radioactive material could contaminate a 500-600m radius.
Intelligence sources suggest that Al-Qaeda operatives have tried to buy bomb-making components "at various times" since 1992. However, to date there has been no hard evidence to indicate that the groups has achieved its aim.
There have been over 175 instances of terrorists or criminals trying to obtain or smuggle radioactive substances from 1992 to 2002. The opportunity for terrorists to acquire stolen nuclear material has also increased by several orders of magnitude since looting incidents at nuclear sites in occupied Iraq.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in the same period there were 18 cases - confirmed by the states involved - of seizures of stolen plutonium or highly enriched uranium (HEU). Many incidents arose from leakages of fissile material from increasingly insecure stockpiles in former Soviet republics.
Some smugglers have no clear idea of what it is they are carrying or what safety measures should be taken, as in the case of two Polish smugglers who received more than 80,000 times the permissible limit of radiation from the radioactive caesium-137 they were carrying in unshielded containers.
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