Film at 11...
I saw this story while perusing the internets and it scared me silly.
More below....
Russian Uranium Seized in Turkey, Dealers Detained
Turkish security forces seized 173 grams of medium-grade uranium from two men arrested in Istanbul. Authorities fear the dangerous substance smuggled from Russia could have landed in the hands of terrorists, Turkish media reported.
Two people who were planning to sell the substance in a glass bottle for $7 million were detained. The detainees said that they had smuggled the substance from Russia.
Sources in the Turkish security forces noted that the substance had the capacity to meet one-year electricity requirement of New York city of the United States, Turkey’s Anatolia news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Turkish Atomic Energy Agency experts, after examining the substance, said it contained 17 per cent of the U-235 isotope. The remaining 83 per cent is mostly the U-238 isotope which does not contribute directly to the fission process.
Something tells me that the claim of running NYC's electrical consumption for a year is bogus. But conider, most nuclear power plant enriched uranium is enriched to approximately 5% U235. There's no where near enough U235 there to make a nuke, but you could make a pretty nasty dirty bomb with it.
I'm wondering where did the two suspects get this stuff?
IIRC, Bush gutted funds to help the Russians secure their Uranium/Plutonium stores. Plus, outing Valerie Plame seriously damaged our ability to track this kind of smuggling.
Thanks Dumbass for helping make America more secure. NOT!