SOUTH CAUCASUS AT CROSSROADS OF RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS’ SMUGGLING.
by Rusiko Machaidze
Rezonansi
April 14 2012
Georgia
One-half Kilogram of Cesium Entered and Left Country Without Internal
Affairs Ministry’s Knowledge
[translated from Georgian]
Smuggled radioactive materials have been seized in Georgia’s
neighbouring countries in recent days. One such incident is, to some
extent, linked to Georgia as it has been reported that the material
was taken from Russia to Turkey through Georgia.
People at the Georgian Internal Affairs Ministry are only saying
that they are studying the incident. However, experts believe that
“this matter requires adequate attention because a lot of questions
remain unanswered.”
According to [Russian news agency] RIA Novosti, 500 grams of Cesium-137
radioactive material that had been smuggled into Turkey were seized
11 April. The information was disseminated by Turkish media which
cited the Turkish police.
According to that information, the Turkish gendarmerie was informed
that a car with German license plates that had entered Turkey from
Georgia was transporting radioactive material. The car was detained
in Ankara. It turned out that it was carrying Cesium-137 radioactive
material in plastic boxes that had been placed in two glass jars.
Three Turkish citizens were arrested. They had resided in Georgia
and Germany and had been detained for smuggling at different times.
According to Turkish media, the criminals bought the radioactive
material in Russia and took it to Turkey through Georgia. They were
planning to sell it there for $1 million.
Another case of radioactive material smuggling occurred in Armenia.
[Russian website] Regnum reported, on the basis of information supplied
by the press service of the Armenian National Security Council, that
two Armenian citizens who attempted to illegally sell Strontium-90
radioactive material were detained in Yerevan. Criminal proceedings
have been instituted over the case.
However, other details -the amount of material, how these individuals
obtained it, and how they were planning to sell it -remain unknown.
Only the names of the detained individuals were made public: [Two
names omitted].
Shota Utiashvili, head of the Georgian Internal Affairs Ministry’s
Analytical Department, told Rezonansi that the Georgian side has no
information about this incident. However, the Georgian side has been
informed about the incident that occurred in Turkey. Shota Utiashvili
said that the “matter is being studied but the interests of the
investigation require that no details be disclosed yet.”
The mere fact that two cases of the illegal transportation of
radioactive materials were recorded in the Caucasus region in recent
days -and one of them involves Georgia to some extent -raises quite
a lot of questions. For example, how did the radioactive material
get onto Georgian territory and, most importantly, for what reason?
We would remind you that the Georgian president recently said at
the nuclear security conference in South Korea that the Georgian law
enforcement agencies had seized radioactive material on the country’s
territory. He highlighted this as Georgia’s major achievement.
Shortly after this statement, smuggled radioactive material was
seized in a neighbouring country after crossing Georgian territory
without any significant problems and passing through the country’s
border twice. For this reason, the most important question to ask is
whether Georgian territory is protected or not.
“It is interesting through which specific border checkpoints it passed
and whether it passed any checkpoint at all. This is interesting
because every checkpoint on the Georgian border is equipped with a
device that detects radioactive material. It is possible that this
material did not enter the country through these border checkpoints,
or that those devices did not work. The matter therefore requires
special attention,” Irakli Aladashvili, editor-in-chief of the Arsenali
military analytical magazine, said.
Aladashvili further noted that these kinds of materials usually are
not transported through customs checkpoints, which explains why it
was not seized at a border checkpoint.
However, he considers the incident itself very dangerous because,
as he explained, “this is very dangerous material.”
“As far as I know, Strontium-90 is not directly used for the production
of some nuclear explosive devices. However, it can be used to produce
some kind of dirty bomb,” Aladashvili said.
This leads us to the question of what these two incidents could be
linked to.
“There is very little information and it is very difficult to say
whether or not these two incidents are linked and whether they have
anything in common. I therefore find it hard to draw any conclusions.
However, if this material did cross Georgia’s entire territory,
this would mean that the country has quite serious problems,” Irakli
Aladashvili said.
As for the possible link between this incident and the Iran issue,
many political analysts “find it difficult to give an assessment
because of the lack of information.”
“As we know, it is not just states that are interested in radioactive
materials but also criminal groups, which is much more dangerous. They
are trying to use these materials for their plans and to use them in
their dealings with the states that are still not close to developing
their own [nuclear] weapons but are thinking of using them. This
applies, for example, to some small states in Africa. These weapons
are quite dangerous in a situation where everyone is looking for
something to intimidate their rivals with,” political analyst Ramaz
Saqvarelidze said and noted that “it would be more appropriate to
wait for a statement from official bodies in this case.”