Russian Tries to Sell Tons of Uranium Abroad

We used to speak about a couple of kilos, but now we speak of tons

Today, a sensation from Siberia comes in. East-Siberian customs agents nabbed a Russian citizen attempting to transport over 27 tons of uranium abroad.

The man’s name, as well as the country to which he intended to take the uranium to, have not been released due to the on-going investigation. However,, if you look at a map of East Siberia, you will easily understand that the only possible destination could have been China. At the same time, it would not be correct to come to the conclustion that China was the final destination. After China, the Uranium could have been shipped anywhere.

For the time being, it is too early to make any conclusions. The investigation is supposed to answer all questions. Yet, such an incident might bring harm to Russia’s international reputation. As is well known, officials and media outlets of the USA and other Western countries continue to say that the Russian mafia sells radioactive materials to terrorists. American special services claimed that Al-Qaeda conducted negotiations with Russian criminal organizations about purchasing nuclear weapons.

Illegal sales of radioactive materials are not a big surprise in Russia. News about certain “businessmen” who try to sell uranium abroad is not rare. However, no one has attempted to sell tons of the stuff, just several kilos. A Siberian vendor set the record. To date, Russian law-enforcement officers have managed to prevent illegal attempts to sell radioactive materials. However, the increasing number of such incidents raises much concern.

Sergey Alexandrov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov