Enriched Uranium Seized

481.4 grams of enriched uranium has been seized in a joint effort by Slovak and Hungarian police. Three men have been arrested so far. The material was in a powdered form and could have been used in a dirty bomb.

The traffickers wanted 1.6 million dollars for the 481.4 grammes of material, Kopcik said. It contained uranium-235, the type used in nuclear reactors and nuclear warheads, and the naturally occuring uranium-238.

"The radioactive uranium was even more dangerous because it was in powder form," Kopcik explained.

The arrests followed an international operation lasting several months.

Two suspects were detained on Wednesday on the Slovakian side of the border and one in Hungary, the police chief said. One was a 40-year old Ukrainian, another a 49-year-old Hungarian living in Ukraine and the third a 51-year-old Hungarian.

Police said the uranium had come from the former Soviet Union but did not give further details.

"Police were watching the sellers as well as the buyers," Kopcik said. He refused to give more information on the buyers however. The radioactive material was due to be sold for 3,500 dollars a gramme, he added, giving a total price of about 1.6 million dollars (one million euros).

The article does not reveal exactly how enriched the uranium was, but one can probably bet safely that it was not weapons grade. Still, it is bad news. There have been a flurry of these kinds of arrests in the past few months, which is not really a good sign. Obviously, someone is trying very hard to get their hands on some pretty nasty material. You can bet they are not planning to make paperweights with this stuff. One hopes the police have good information on the people who were trying to purchase this and are planning arrests.