Nine Accused in Slovakia of Smuggling Uranium
Police have arrested nine people accused of smuggling about 110 pounds of uranium from Ukraine, Slovak authorities said Friday.
Authorities told the International Atomic Energy Agency that the material was Uranium 238, which is not the type used to produce nuclear bombs and is unregulated, said the U.N. agency’s spokesman, David Kyd.
But Kyd said the agency, based in Vienna, had yet to receive a laboratory analysis.
The four Slovaks, three Hungarians and two Ukrainians were arrested Wednesday.
They smuggled the uranium into Slovakia on April 13, Interior Ministry spokesman Peter Ondera said.
He said six suspects were arrested in Poprad, 150 miles northeast of Bratislava. The other three were arrested in the eastern city of Kosice.
They reportedly planned to take the uranium to Hungary. Its intended use was not known.
The nine, charged Thursday with unauthorized possession of nuclear materials, face sentences of up to 15 years if convicted.
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