The price of enriched uranium on the black market.

Does anyone know the approximate black-market price of enriched uranium. If anyone has the price/quantity that were to change hands in the recent Georgian sting that might help. Also, is it easy to come by, are there hotspots besides the ex soviet republics where you can buy?

It costs $127 US dollars for one SWU of enriched uranium. The are 6 SWU's in 100g of Uranium.

6*127= $726.00 for 100g
726*10= $7,260.00 per kilo

A modern Atomic bomb uses about 15Kg of enriched uranium to create a 15 Kiloton explosion (Source: Encyclopedia Brittanicca)

15*7260= $108,900.00 for the fissile material in a modern warhead.

The above figure is for legitimatly bought Uranium,

From this quote

"Corruption to defeat the physical protection system: The black market value of weapons-usable nuclear material ranges from a few hundred to several thousand US dollars per gram, which is the equivalent of at least several months’ wages for nuclear scientists and security guards in the former Soviet Union or in developing countries. Since corruption is officially acknowledged as a serious problem in many of these countries, it is safe to assume that corruption among personnel guarding and working at nuclear facilities cannot be excluded."

taken from: www.ecolo.org...

I would image that on the blackmarket it would fetch 150 to 250 times more than it's official value.

So for enough material to make a bomb I would imagine $16,335,000 to $27,225,000.

(Sorry haven't got time to explain what an SWU is, a google search should clear that up!)


[edit on 8/2/07 by Jimmy1880]