It was revealed today that on July 20th
about 1.8kg of yellowcake uranium was seized in Chisinau, Moldova. The asking price was 11 million dollars.
The issue is especially disconcerting because of the proximity of the breakaway state of
Transnistria, which occupies a sliver of land between Moldova and Ukraine. Viewed by many as a kleptocracy, Transnistria is just the sort of
semi-operative state likely to facilitate nuclear materials sales for profit alone. It is already accused of illegal conventional arms sales to conflict zones across the world.
Though the yellowcake is nowhere near weapons ready -- you need 5% U-235 for nuclear power, and 90% U-235 for military use -- the street availability of U-238 is probably raising eyebrows in many state departments. Officials are currently working to determine where the uranium originated, but in any case, you need about 2,700 kg of yellowcake to yield
16 kg of U-235 for a nuclear chain reaction in very sophisticated bomb designs. In more primitive designs without beryllium reflectors, like those used on Hiroshima, you'd need about 10,000 kg of yellowcake.
Nuclear proliferation and nuclear war are still
considered by many to be the greatest threat to long term human survival. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US Navy trapped a Russian sub and were trying to force it to surface with depth charges. The commander of the sub, believing his country to already be at war, gave the order to launch a nuclear attack against the United States. The world was saved by a man named
Vasili Arkhipov, one of three men who had to agree to the launch, who allegedly convinced his commander to stand down.
Despite the threat of nuclear weaponry, non-proliferation receives little attention or funding. Even though the Obama Administration raised funding considerably, the budget for non-proliferation
reached approximately 1 billion dollars in 2010, which represents about .001% of the defense budget.
Previously, and previously, previously, and previously terrifying.
posted by swift at 2:41 PM on August 24, 2010 [8 favorites]