German Arrested on the Suspicion of Passing Nuclear Material to Iran

Via GulfNews -

Berlin: German police have arrested a man with dual German-Iranian citizenship on suspicion of smuggling nuclear materials into Iran.

Prosecutors say the Berlin based businessman is alleged to have tried to send material to a company that has links to Iran’s nuclear programme.

The 52-year-old could face charges of smuggling prohibited material to a blacklisted company.

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In addition, Kyrgyzstan officials announced on Jan 9th, that they had taken possession of a small load of radioactive substance discovered aboard a train bound for Iran. The discovery was made on Dec 31st, 2007.

Kubanych Noruzbaev, an official from the Kyrgyz Ecology and Environmental Protection Ministry, said on January 10 that the material was cesium-137, a product of nuclear reactors and weapons testing that is often used in medical devices and gauges.

Reports say the material emitted 1,000 milliroentgen per hour, which is considered a dangerous level. Most companies handling such material consider 5,000 milliroentgen per 2,000-hour work year to be the "regulatory upper limit" for safety.

"It emits radiation, radioactive waves, and they are harmful, maybe not in mediocre amounts but prolonged exposure," Noruzbaev said. "If you held it a while, depending on the dosage, you would get burns of varying degrees."