Experts: uranium confiscated in Georgia was intended for buyers abroad

Georgia has no structures, which could buy smuggled radioactive materials, said the experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". Terrorist groupings from Middle East can try to get uranium, said Shota Utiashvili, the former head of the information-analytical department of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). As noted by Irakli Aladashvili, a military expert, the confiscated uranium is not fit even for making a "dirty" atomic bomb, because of low level of radiation.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 18 the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) reported about a detention of six persons, three Georgian citizens and three – Armenian ones. According to special services, they tried to sell radioactive uranium-238 for 200 million US dollars. A container with the radioactive material was found in the house of one of the detainees.

Shota Utiashvili has noted that citizens attempting to transport radioactive materials abroad are periodically detained in Georgia.

He did not rule out that "someone is trying to set up a supply chain to third countries."

According to Irakli Aladashvili, the editor of the military magazine "Arsenali", a part of the above radioactive material originated from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and another part – from Armenia. He suggested that the container could be obtained from the Armenian NPP in Metsamor.

Uranium-238 cannot be used for making an explosive, due to its physical and chemical properties, said Alexander Koldobskiy, the Deputy Director for Quality of the Institute of International Relations of the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (known as MIFI).

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet  agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.