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link to sorce and time line
Leonid Smirnov, the first known thief of weapons-grade fissile material in the world, was arrested by accident at the train station in Podolsk on his way to Moscow. He was taken in with three friends suspected of an unrelated crime. Smirnov happened to be carrying three lead containers containing over 1.5 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. Inspired by an article he read about uranium's purported street value in Komsomolskaya Pravda, he had stolen it from the Luch Scientific Production Association, where he had worked for over 25 years. Luch carries out research and development of nuclear reactors for spacecraft.