Turkish Police Detain Suspects Selling Uranium

Reuters | 11/06/01

[kattracks]

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Paramilitary police arrested two Turks on Tuesday after they attempted to sell weapons-grade uranium to undercover officers, police said.

The suspects had agreed to sell the officers 2.56 pounds of uranium of a quality which could be used to develop a nuclear weapon, the police official told Reuters.

The arrests came the same day President Bush warned East European leaders that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network could be seeking nuclear weapons to step up its fight against the United States.

Bush said bin Laden's agents were active in at least 60 countries. The president named bin Laden as prime suspect behind the hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington which killed nearly 5,000 people.

Turkey's state-run Anatolian news agency reported the men had bought the weapons-grade uranium earlier this year from an unidentified source, who had brought the uranium from an East European country into Turkey.

The suspects had offered the uranium, wrapped in newspaper, to the officers for $750,000, Anatolian said.

Turkey's state nuclear research authority is now in possession of the material, the agency said.

Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited.

[japaneseghost]

Wrapped in newspaper? They must be omitting that it was first wrapped in several steel containers.

[JRandomFreeper]

Maybe not wrapped in steel. Maybe just newspapers. LOL! Criminals aren't the brightest bulbs on the string.

/john

[Semper Paratus]

"PSST- Hey Meester, you want some pretty plutonium I got, reel cheep.
I'll throw in my seester for nawthing.

[RightWhale]

The suspects had offered the uranium, wrapped in newspaper, to the officers for $750,000

About $5 million would get enough weapons-grade U to make one device. Be sure to throw it all into your knapsack for easy transport.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Weapons grade uranium wrapped in newspaper? BTW, the article never actually SAYS that what they were selling was actually uranium.

[Sabertooth]

The suspects had offered the uranium, wrapped in newspaper, to the officers for $750,000, Anatolian said.

Now these are clever terrorists...

Wrapping a highly radioactive material in the lead story.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Wrapped in paper?

Take those guys to the hospital.

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[butter pecan fan]

Weapons grade uranium wrapped in newspaper? BTW, the article never actually SAYS that what they were selling was actually uranium.

Yes it does:

Turkey's state-run Anatolian news agency reported the men had bought the weapons-grade uranium earlier this year from an unidentified source, who had brought the uranium from an East European country into Turkey.

[butter pecan fan]

Anyone know how much of this stuff it takes to make a bomb?

[Dog Gone]

This is both encouraging and really bad news all at the same time.

Thank goodness Turkey is on our side.

[RightWhale]

About $5 million street price.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Wrapping a highly radioactive material in the lead story.

Hehehe, not bad.

[SC DOC]

Its been a while since I studied nuclear physics, but I think even highly enriched weapons grade Uranium 235 needs about 15 Kg. in a spherical configuration for a fissionable reaction to take place. Unless the 2.5lb. of uranium is being bombarded with neutrons from an external source, I think it would be unlikely to harm those handling it, unless it was breathed as dust.

[Paradox]

Look like a freeper got this right earlier (Even though that particular freeper is something of a malcontent troll, "milosivec2"?).

This is frightening..

[Rebelbase]

Well, this exonerates Milosevic2, who made a claim this morning about someone trying to obtain 1 kilo of Uranium in Turkey. He provided no link and was flamed royally as a disruptor.

Milo, if you remember which thread that was, go back and ping those flamers to this post with a "told you so" tag.

[Rebelbase]

"highly enriched weapons grade Uranium 235 needs about 15 Kg. in a spherical configuration for a fissionable reaction to take place. "

I don't know the specifics, but a kilo of this stuff would, in my best judgement, make a dandy little "dirty bomb".

[SC DOC]

It would make an excellent dirty bomb, particularly if it were ground into fine dust before it was exploded and dispersed. Again, since it decays with production of an alpha particle, inhalation is the only way for significant risk other than shrapnel wounds with imbedded uranium.

[father_elijah]

Ditto.