Theft of radioactive materials in the ex-Soviet republics

Ignalina NPP Press Service

Due to the number of nuclear power plants that Russia built in the Soviet republics before the Iron Curtain fell, one of the biggest threats for dirty-bomb grade nuclear material theft lies within these plants because of varying safety standards. There are at present: two Soviet built reactors in Armenia; one in Kazakhstan; one in Lithuania―which was robbed of an entire uranium assembly 13 years ago―and 14 in Ukraine. There are more than 20 Soviet built reactors in for Soviet bloc countries.

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