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Car with nuclear cargo denied entry (Customs just told them to go back to Azerbaijan)
LA Times ^ | June 20, 2007 | Times Wire Reports

Posted on 06/20/2007 5:48:56 AM PDT by PapaBear3625

Georgian [the country south of Russia, not the US state ] customs officers sent a car carrying a mixture of plutonium and beryllium back into Azerbaijan after foiling an attempt to smuggle the materials over the border, Georgian television reported.

Customs officials found the materials, which can be used in nuclear bombs, in what appeared to be a routine check as the car was driven over the border from Azerbaijan, the Imedi television station reported.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: azerbaijan; beryllium; georgia; nuclear; plutonium; smuggling; wot
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To: DBrow
Interesting. Myself, I'd use the Pu238 for RTGs, and the Be for mirrorizing a slab of shaped glass for a new telescope.

Alas, no glass worth wasting the Be on, and only a small 1-1/2" peltier floating around in some box.

21 posted on 06/20/2007 1:26:38 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: FARS

wow


22 posted on 06/20/2007 1:26:59 PM PDT by RDTF (www.imwithfred.com)
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To: DBrow

That rings true. PuBe sources are used because together, those two can produce neutrons. Often they were used as Start-Up Sources for brand new reactor cores.

The article does not say how much, what isotopes or if they were stored together or not. Lots of missing info here.


23 posted on 06/20/2007 4:00:45 PM PDT by RoadGumby (Ask me about Ducky)
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To: MrEdd; 1stbn27; 2111USMC; 2nd Bn, 11th Mar; 68 grunt; A.A. Cunningham; ASOC; AirForceBrat23; ...

Ping.


24 posted on 06/20/2007 5:27:43 PM PDT by freema (Marine FRiend, 1stCuz2xRemoved, Mom, Aunt, Sister, Friend, Wife, Daughter, Niece)
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To: FARS; AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; KlueLass; ...

Thanks FARS. I’m sure there’s no Russian involvement. /snark


25 posted on 06/20/2007 8:42:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 20, 2007.)
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To: RDTF; Sax; AU72; Obie Wan; MrEdd; FARS; uptoolate; DBrow; nw_arizona_granny; Calvin Locke; ...
Update from a Georgia website:
Georgian Border Police said on Tuesday that it had detected radioactive emissions from scrap metal in a truck on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border on June 15.

Tbilisi-based Imedi TV reported on June 19 that the Georgian Border Police had detected nuclear materials – a mixture of plutonium and beryllium – in a truck coming from Azerbaijan. The truck was sent back to Azerbaijan.

The Border Police, however, stressed in a statement that only very small traces had been detected on the scrap metal during a routine customs check.

“The truck was carrying different types of scrap metal. It was driven by a Georgian citizen. He had all the necessary documents. Radiation emissions were detected on one of the metal pipes in the cargo. Pipes of this kind are usually used for wells,” the Border Police said.

It also said that it had informed relevant agencies within the Interior Ministry and Ministry of Environment, which then studied the case and jointly decided to send the truck with its cargo back to Azerbaijan.

“Our Azerbaijani colleagues have been informed,” the Border Police said.

So it wasn't a shipment of plutonium, but neither was it a legitimate device that happened to contain plutonium. Left unexplained is how well-pipe might have been contaminated with Pu. Perhaps somebody stashed some Pu down a well at some point? The lack of open interest by the authorities is interesting
26 posted on 06/21/2007 7:30:57 AM PDT by PapaBear3625
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To: PapaBear3625
Finding a neutron source in a well, or in well equipment, is not too surprising. AmBe is more common, but there are PuBe sources in use today.

Neutron sources are used for “well logging”, by irradiating the surrounding borehole rock or soil with neutrons then using a gamma spectrometer to determine the type of rock by its elemental composition (neutron activation analysis).

The backscatter of neutrons yields information about density and other factors.

The “piece of pipe” was most likely an old well logging device, with a PuBe source in it.

The lack of open interest is most likely due to the fact that well logging is a common technology and using a PuBe source for it is an accepted method. Combine that with a lack of a threat, and you get a ho-hum reaction.

The article does not say that the pipe was a well logging rig, so I’m not sure if there was a PuBe source, or if someone had broken open a PuBe source during a logging operation and there was residual contamination.

Isn’t it nice to know that there are radiation detectors in use at borders and that they trip on even small quantities of radioactive materials? The article could have been written as reassuring instead of alarming merely by shifting to the detectors, how they work, how sensitive they are, their spectral specificity*, and the clever border agents that found the PuBe.

*some early detectors would sound an alarm when scanning a load of bananas, since the K40 in bananas has a gamma peak quite close to that of special nuclear materials. It takes high spectral sensitivity to differentiate between bananas and a nuclear bomb.

27 posted on 06/21/2007 7:54:04 AM PDT by DBrow
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To: PapaBear3625

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18825225.800

An article talking about bombs and bananas.


28 posted on 06/21/2007 7:57:42 AM PDT by DBrow
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To: PapaBear3625
Radiation emissions were detected on one of the metal pipes in the cargo. Pipes of this kind are usually used for wells
...in the gulag, maybe. Thanks PapaBear.
29 posted on 06/21/2007 8:14:07 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Time heals all wounds, particularly when they're not yours. Profile updated June 20, 2007.)
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To: PapaBear3625

Either Laurel and Hardey are in charge of Border Security in Georgia, or they’ve been consulting with President Bush and Tony Snowman.

This reminds me of Snowman’s interview with Hannity earlier this week:

Hannity: “...but Tony, they had plutonium and berylium! Why didn’t you confiscate it!”

Snowman: “Look Sean, I love you, but you just can’t go around confiscating nuclear material at the border. The previous border security law had no such provisions. And anyways, the Border Patrol folks did not have the proper forms. But we got some really cool photos from the Global Hawk we now have patroling that sector.”


30 posted on 06/21/2007 8:23:52 AM PDT by PsyOp (Truth in itself is rarely sufficient to make men act. - Clauswitz, On War, 1832.)
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To: DBrow

thanks for the explanation


31 posted on 06/21/2007 8:44:25 AM PDT by PapaBear3625
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To: PapaBear3625

Thanks for the update and ping.


32 posted on 06/21/2007 12:36:26 PM PDT by nw_arizona_granny (When God spoke to the world, were you listening?)
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To: FARS

Thank you for the ping FARS!


33 posted on 06/21/2007 4:15:14 PM PDT by potlatch (MIZARU_ooo_‹(•¿•)›_ooo_MIKAZARU_ooo_‹(•¿•)›_ooo_MAZARU_ooo_‹(•¿•)›_ooo_))
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