Theft of radioactive materials in the ex-Soviet republics
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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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The risk that terrorists will acquire and use atomic weapons will increase in coming decades as nuclear technology and expertise proliferate, according to a U.S. intelligence report released last week, the Global Security Newswire reported.
There were close to 250 thefts of nuclear and radioactive material in a 12-month period that ended in June, a figure International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday called “disturbingly high,” the New York Times reported.
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