Bombs Away!

If you think it can't happen, think again!

A statement has been released by authorities in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia.

Aided by the CIA, they set up a sting operation last summer that led to the arrest of a Russian man who tried to sell a small amount of nuclear-bomb grade uranium from a plastic bag in his inside jacket pocket, officials said. (Did he think he was selling watches?)

The arrest underscored concerns about the possibility of militants acquiring nuclear bomb-making material on the black market, although there was no suggestion that happened in this particular case.

"Given the serious consequences of the detonation of an improvised nuclear explosive device, even small numbers of incidents involving HEU [highly enriched uranium] or plutonium are of very high concern," said Melissa Fleming of the world's nuclear watchdog, the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency.

Details of the investigation, which also involved the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Energy Department, were provided to the media by U.S. officials and Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili.

Authorities say they do not know how the man acquired the nuclear material or whether his claims of access to much larger quantities were true. He and three Georgian accomplices are in Georgian custody and not co-operating with investigators.

According to his account, during an investigation in South Ossetia, a Georgian undercover agent posing as a rich foreign buyer made contact with the Russian seller in North Ossetia, which is part of Russia.

The man was arrested and sentenced to eight to 10 years in prison on smuggling charges. His accomplices were sentenced on lesser charges.

Russian authorities took a sample of the material but failed to offer any assistance despite requests for help from the Georgians, Merabishvili said.

Georgian attempts to trace the nuclear material since the arrest and confirm whether the man had access to larger quantities have foundered due to a lack of co-operation from Russia. (Russia has tense relations with Georgia, which has been troubled by Russia's support for separatists in two breakaway Georgian border regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.)

Merabishvili said that he was revealing the story out of frustration with Russia's response and the need to illustrate the dangers of a breakdown in security co-operation in the region.

A message left with the press office of the Russian Embassy was not returned. A duty officer at the Russian Foreign Ministry told the Associated Press that there was no one authorized to comment on Wednesday night.

The Georgians then asked for U.S. assistance. Agents from the FBI and the Energy Department took the material back to the United States, where it was tested by the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration.

"The material was analyzed by agency nuclear experts and confirmed to be highly enriched uranium," said Bryan Wilkes, a spokesman for the agency.

None of the U.S. officials would confirm the exact weight of the seizure or its quality, but Merabishvili said it was about 100 grams of uranium enriched by more than 90 per cent.

Uranium enriched at 90 per cent is weapons grade but the quantity was not nearly enough for an actual bomb. (They would need about 100X as much!)

The Central Intelligence Agency declined to comment on the case. FBI spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed that the FBI was involved in the investigation and called it a success, but he would not provide further details either.

Your "duck and cover" scribe;
Allan W Janssen