Nuclear Smugglers Caught, Ukraine Says
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KIEV, Ukraine — Police caught six people trying to smuggle nuclear materials out of Ukraine, and the probe led to the seizure of a bigger load in neighboring Moldova, the Interior Ministry said Thursday.
A ministry spokesman, Ivan Levchenko, said the 10 ounces of materials seized last week in the Ukrainian port of Odessa included various radioactive elements used in nuclear weapons, medicine and atomic-powered reactors.
He refused, however, to list the substances or to say whether they included weapons-grade material.
In an offshoot of the case, 3.3 pounds of radioactive materials were seized Wednesday in Kishinev, the capital of Moldova, the ministry said. Ukrainian and Moldovan police are jointly investigating the origin of the materials, Levchenko said.
The shipment intercepted in Ukraine was discovered at a customs checkpoint, he said.
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