Georgia arrests two foreigners trying to purchase uranium

TBILISI, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Georgia has detained two people who attempted to purchase $3 million worth of uranium and a cache of a radioactive isotope found in nuclear weapons testing programmes, the national security service said on Thursday.

Two foreign nationals from unspecified countries were arrested in the city of Kutaisi, the State Security Service said in a statement.

“They were planning to illegally purchase nuclear material uranium and radioactive substance Cesium 137 for $3 million and illegally transport it to the territory of another country,” it said.

It said other foreigners had been arriving in Georgia in recent weeks with the aim of purchasing and transporting the nuclear and radioactive materials, without elaborating further.

The statement did not specify the quantity of materials the individuals were attempting to procure. There were no details on the substances’ origin or potential destination.

Cesium 137 is a radioactive isotope present primarily in the aftermath of nuclear weapons testing and nuclear power plant accidents such as the Chernobyl disaster in then-Soviet Ukraine in 1986.

The security of nuclear materials was one of the biggest concerns after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, of which Georgia was part. There have been several serious incidents involving the illicit trade in nuclear materials in Georgia over recent decades.

Most recently, three Chinese citizens were arrested in the capital Tbilisi for attempting to purchase two kilograms of “nuclear material” uranium.

(Reporting by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)