Truckload of Uranium Stolen in India
December 27th, 2006Via: Yahoo/AFP:
A container packed with radioactive material has been stolen from a fortified research facility in eastern India, prompting a major hunt and fears of contamination, officials said.
“It carries uranium and radiation and could have an adverse effect in an area of 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mile),” Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Khoda warned.
Khoda said the uranium was stolen nearly three weeks ago after being moved to a research site at the densely-populated town of Rajrappa from a federal atomic facility near Mumbai.
The United States and India this month signed a landmark atomic energy deal to give India access to western technology and nuclear fuel, despite warnings from critics that demand tighter security measures to prevent proliferation.
Khoda did not say to what degree the uranium was enriched to, although an official from Jharkhand’s Central Mine Planning and Development Institute (CMPDI) said the missing material was not highly-enriched.
“It was not highly-enriched but neither was it just yellow cake (uranium ore) and it was meant for a project but we can’t talk about that,” the official from the Ranchi-based CMPDI said on condition he not be named.
