Uranium Lost In New Jersey, Radioactive Material Missing Globally
Uranium lost in New Jersey, radioactive material missing globally
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Ur...long_0822.html
Michael Roston
Published: Tuesday August 22, 2006
Uranium has been lost in New Jersey, one of 103 reported incidents of nuclear trafficking in 2005 collected by the Geneva-based body, according to a report issued yesterday by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The IAEA's Illicit Trafficking Database Program (ITDB) reports on trafficking and other unauthorized activities involving nuclear and radioactive materials worldwide. The 103 incidents detected so far this year by ITDB represented a decline from 2004, but were still greater than all other previous years since the agency began collecting information in 1993.
In one March or April 2005 incident, highly enriched uranium (HEU) that could be used to make a nuclear weapon, was lost in the US State of New Jersey. The total amount gone missing was 3.3 grams, a small quantity. The IAEA remarked about the incident, "From the terrorism threat standpoint, these cases are of little concern but they show security vulnerabilities at facilities handling HEU."
The New Jersey loss was the 15th of 16 confirmed cases of lost fissile material globally since 1993. Fissile material can be used in the production of fuel for a nuclear weapon. Calls to New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection were not immediately returned.
Of the other cases, 18 more involved quantities of nuclear material, although only one more in Japan involved a miniscule quantity of HEU.
Most of the remaining cases involved quantities of radioactive material that cannot be used in a nuclear weapon, though some could potentially be used in a so-called "dirty bomb."
The IAEA's report can be accessed at its website.
