Cesium-137 Stolen from Georgian Military Base

Paraphrased by Steve Waldrop
February 19, 2003

Tbilisi, Georgia- Officials have confirmed that three small containers with radioactive materials inside them are missing from a military base in the former Soviet Union republic of Georgia.

According to Georgian military prosecutor Mamuk Tsaav, the containers that held cesium-137 disappeared late last year from the Vasiani military base. Authorities don't know exactly when the materials disappeared, so they have been unable to determine who was on guard duty at the time.

Officials did not say how much of the material was stolen or whether it was high-grade. Cesium-137 has a number of industrial and medical applications. It is often cited as one of the most likely substances that could be used in a so-called "dirty bomb," in which a conventional explosive device spreads radioactive material.

The head of the radiation security department of the Georgian Environment Ministry ,Soso Kakushadze, said that his department had only recentely learned of the theft and had sent in experts but they were not allowed on the military base. He said that the containers held calibrated instruments fueled by cesium. The instruments are used to measure radiation levels.

A number of thefts and many attempts to smuggle out radioactive materials have been made since the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.