Kazakhstan's Scary Uranium Ambitions (BusinessWeek)

[jpak]

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/apr2008/gb2008049_477876.htm?chan=globalbiz_europe+index+page_energy+%2Bamp%3B+environment

A few months ago a train headed from Kyrgyzstan to Iran was turned back at the Uzbek border after it was found to be carrying highly radioactive material. It had already traveled through southern Kazakhstan without the substance being detected at border checkpoints.

Kyrgyz authorities have said little about the incident, but it raises the specter of nuclear smuggling in the region just as Kazakhstan has embarked on an ambitious plan to become the world's leading supplier of uranium.

Such unaccounted-for radioactive material, especially highly enriched uranium, is floating around Central Asia, possibly crossing borders freely.

In a January interview with the Arabic daily al Hayat, Mohammed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, named Kazakhstan among the four states where most nuclear trafficking incidents occurred, noting that such material could be used for making a "dirty bomb."

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[bananas]

1. Isn't this the kind of thing Valerie Plame kept an eye on?

The pro-nukes are probably happy that her cover was blown.