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Russian Man Says Toxic Uranium for Weight Lifting |
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| RUSSIA: January 31, 2005 | ||
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MOSCOW - Russian police seized highly radioactive depleted uranium from an amateur weightlifter who said he used it instead of dumbbells, media reported on Friday.
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The unnamed man had almost 40 kg of uranium-238 -- a high-density toxic material mainly used in gun ammunition -- stashed in his car when customs police stopped him for checks in the central Volga region, Itar-Tass news agency reported. "The container had uranium in it and was registered in the customs declaration as 'weight lifting equipment'," Tass quoted one customs official as saying. The official added the man said he had found the container at a scrap yard and used it to develop his muscles. Depleted uranium, if mixed with other materials, could be used to make a "dirty bomb" that spreads radioactivity when it explodes, experts say. But it cannot be used in a nuclear bomb. Russia has the world's second biggest nuclear arsenal after the United States. It is under international pressure to do more to protect its atomic sites from theft and prevent sensitive materials from reaching the black market.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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