NOVOSIBIRSK. Jan 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Federal Environmental, Technological, and Atomic Oversight Service (Rostekhnadzor) believes it unlikely that the highly enriched uranium-235 that a Russian citizen allegedly tried to sell in Georgia could have been produced by a Russian nuclear fuel enterprise in Siberia.
"The disappearance of 100 grams of highly enriched uranium is a most serious incident. In any case, a response would have been immediate," a Rostekhnadzor source told Interfax.
Siberian enterprises earlier produced highly enriched 90% uranium slugs for industrial neutron emitters and fuel cells for research reactors, in which 30%-40% enriched uranium is used, he said.
"It seems unlikely that some culprits could have gained access to nuclear materials and taken them outside. To do this, at a minimum, an organization is needed that possesses the resources of a state," the source said.
"Nuclear materials are stored at state storage facilities at enterprises, where the strictest control exists," he said.
At the same time, the source did not rule out that a certain amount of nuclear materials could have entered illegal trade turnover ten or more years ago or that uranium could theoretically have Georgian or other origin.
Last week, Tbilisi reported the detention of Russian citizen Oleg Khintsagov and three Georgian citizens, who tried to sell 100 grams of highly enriched uranium in Georgian territory. The Russian citizen was arrested, tried, and sentenced to eight years in prison, and the Georgians were given from four to five years in prison.