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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Slovak raid nets 'bomb' uranium | Slovak raid nets 'bomb' uranium |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Uranium seized in Slovakia on Wednesday was enriched enough to be used in a so-called "dirty bomb" to spread radioactive material, police say. | |
| The uranium was found during a raid on alleged smugglers near the Hungarian border. Three people were detained. | The uranium was found during a raid on alleged smugglers near the Hungarian border. Three people were detained. |
| The suspects had just under 500g (17.6 ounces) of uranium in powder, senior police official Michal Kopcik said. | The suspects had just under 500g (17.6 ounces) of uranium in powder, senior police official Michal Kopcik said. |
| Slovakian investigators believe the enriched uranium came from somewhere in the former Soviet Union. | Slovakian investigators believe the enriched uranium came from somewhere in the former Soviet Union. |
| The identity of the intended buyer for the uranium has not been released. | |
| A dirty bomb uses conventional explosives to scatter radioactive debris and contaminate the target area. | |
| 'Powder form' | |
| The uranium seized on Wednesday could have been used "in various ways for terrorist attacks", Mr Kopcik said. | |
| "The radioactive uranium was even more dangerous because it was in powder form," he said. | |
| Mr Kopcik said the confiscated material contained uranium-235 as well as the widely occurring uranium-238. | |
| The police did not specify the degree to which the uranium had been enriched to raise the proportion of the 235 isotope. | |
| Enriched uranium with boosted levels of the 235 isotope can be used to make bombs or fuel power plants. | |
| Security risk | |
| Hungarian and Slovak police are believed to have spent months tracking the alleged smugglers. | |
| The police originally said 1kg (35 ounces) of radioactive material had been confiscated in Wednesday's raid but this figure was revised downwards on Thursday. | |
| The raid near the Hungarian border in Slovakia coincided with the arrest of one Ukrainian citizen and two Hungarians, all aged between 40 and 51 years. | |
| International agencies have repeatedly warned of the risk of radioactive material from the former Soviet Union passing into the hands of criminals or terrorists. | |
| A police raid in the Czech Republic in 1994 uncovered an attempt to sell 2.73kg (96 ounces) of enriched uranium illegally. | |
| Police in the same year confiscated 2.97kg (105 ounces) of enriched uranium intended for illegal sale in the Russian city of St Petersburg. |