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Uranium Seized in Moscow

Police and counterintelligence agents have confiscated 27 kilograms of smuggled uranium-238 in the third such seizure in two months, a spokesman said Tuesday.


The radioactive material, intended for unauthorized sale, was seized Monday in Moscow and a number of people were arrested, said Sergei Vasilyev, a spokesman for the Federal Counterintelligence Service.


It was not immediately clear from where the uranium originated, and few other details were available.


The stolen material was not weapons-quality, said Vasilyev. Uranium-238, used to produce fuel for nuclear power plants, can be bought in Russia from authorized dealers and costs $100 to $200 a kilogram, according to nuclear authorities.

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