Smuggled uranium seized in Moldova

THREE PEOPLE have been arrested in Moldova for trying to sell 1.8kg of smuggled uranium, in the latest case to raise questions about nuclear security in the former Soviet Union.

Moldovan police say two of those arrested are former interior ministry officials, and that they are now searching for four more members of the group, which sought to sell the uranium-238 abroad for €9,000,000.

It is not clear if the gang had found buyers for the uranium, which was stored without special equipment in the garage of one of the suspects, some of whom have previous convictions in Moldova, Russia and Romania for possessing radioactive material.

“Seven members of the criminal group came under suspicion of police in the middle of June when they started to look for ways of selling the radioactive material,” said Chiril Motpan, a spokesman for Moldova’s interior ministry.

A US laboratory confirmed that the radioactive material discovered was uranium-238, which must be enriched before it can be used in a nuclear power plant or weapon.

Experts said the amount seized was too small on its own to be weaponised or used to create a dirty bomb.

Moldovan officials said the gang had smuggled the uranium into the country from abroad and intended to sell it internationally, without specifying where. A German laboratory is now analysing the uranium to discover its country of origin.

Suspicion is likely to fall on the possible role of Transdniestria, a pro-Russian region that broke away from Moldova in a brief but bloody war following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Transdniestria is not recognised internationally and is controlled by a small clique of politicians and businessmen with strong links to allies in neighbouring Ukraine and in Russia.

They face persistent claims that their regime is financed by the smuggling of arms and other contraband.

Georgia claimed earlier this year to have foiled an attempt to smuggle and sell highly enriched uranium.