Six detained for smuggling uranium

CHISINAU (AP):

Six people have been detained for smuggling an unspecified amount of the form of uranium that can be used to make a nuclear weapon, an official reported yesterday.

Interior Ministry official Vitalie Briceag said the uranium-235 was brought in from Russia. In an indication that the amount was substantial, he said the smugglers were trying to sell it to Muslim countries for €20 million (US$28.85 million).

Uranium-235 makes up less than one per cent of natural uranium. Highly enriched uranium, which is used to arm nuclear weapons, is 90 per cent or more uranium-235.

The International Atomic Energy Agency considers 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of uranium-235 a "significant quantity", technical language for the amount needed to make a nuclear bomb.