Nuclear Materials Secretly Transported

Nuclear Materials Secretly Transported

www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Enough processed uranium to make six nuclear weapons was secretly transported thousands of miles by truck, rail and ship on a monthlong trip from a research reactor in Budapest, Hungary, to a facility in Russia so it could be more closely protected against theft, U.S. officials revealed Wednesday.

The shipment, conducted under tight secrecy and security, included a three-week trip by cargo ship through the Mediterranean, up the English Channel and the North Sea to Russia's Arctic seaport of Murmansk, the only port Russia allows for handling nuclear material.

The 13 radiation-proof casks, each weighing 17,000 pounds, arrived by rail at the secure nuclear material facility at Mayak in Siberia on Wednesday, carrying 341 pounds of weapons-usable uranium, said Kenneth Baker, a National Nuclear Security Administration official who oversaw the complex project.

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I'm glad to see this material somewhere where it can be kept under close watch. This program has been very successful, and hopefully they'll continue it. I'm surprised they were able to keep this move as quiet as they did, without anyone knowing about it until now.

I'm sure that there will be screaming now about the transport of this material however. Especially among people that didn't know it was coming and going through their area. Anytime the word "radiation" or "radioactive" is thrown around people freak out, without realizing how much they're exposed to through natural sources.

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

What did you think they were going to do call Al-Qaeda and ask for security guards for the shipment.

This explains why several people on the forum saw an increase of troops in London. Just passing through, now we know why. SOooo, if russia is friendly with china, and protective of Iranian oil,how is this a good thing?

[edit on 23-10-2008 by antar]

I'm surprised this is even in the news.. I mean, I can see why they would make a news story on the topic.. But there are nuclear weapons transported all the time in the U.S. and we never hear about it.. And The U.S. doesn't exactly have a flawless track record with handling nuclear materials and weapons.. How many nukes have we lost now? I know it's ALOT.. 11 or 12 I think. That's just what we know about.

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-ChriS



[edit on 23-10-2008 by BlasteR]

By many accounts, Hungary is next in line for economic collapse. Their situation is almost as dire as Iceland in it's final days, with runaway inflation, investors pulling money out of the country and nobody willing to buy it's bonds. This could be a sign that they're getting prepared for civil unrest and securing things that could be targets for terrorists if order breaks down.

Originally posted by antar
SOooo, if russia is friendly with china, and protective of Iranian oil,how is this a good thing?

Russia has more than 11,000 nuclear weapons and thousands of pounds of weapons grade nuclear material stockpiled. I'm sure they don't need or even want Hungary's few hundred pounds, but they probably have the safest storage facilities in the region and are helping the world out in this case.