Georgia man attempts to sell uranium for $700,000: Here's what happened next

Georgia has detained a man who planned to sell uranium-238 to a foreign national ​for $700,000, the national security service said on Wednesday (Oct 9). According to official statement, the ‌Georgian citizen was allegedly trying to sell nuclear material. The security agency shared a video of ​armed security personnel pulling a man out ⁠of a white sedan and handcuffing him on ​the ground. The investigation is being conducted under Part 1 of Article 19-230 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, covering the attempt to illegally handle nuclear material or equipment, radioactive waste, and radioactive substances. If convicted, the detainees face five to ten years in prison.

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Uranium-238 is the most ‌common ⁠uranium isotope and, while radioactive, is not ordinarily usable on its own to make a nuclear bomb. The footage shared by security agency showed agents testing two small containers in the trunk of ​the vehicle with a handheld radiation detector. One ​of them appeared to contain a light-coloured powder.

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The security of nuclear materials was one of the ​biggest concerns ​after the ⁠1991 fall of the Soviet Union, of which Georgia was part. There have ​been several serious incidents involving the ​illicit trade ⁠in nuclear materials in Georgia over recent decades. Earlier in February this year, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) detained two foreign nationals in Kutaisi for attempting to illegally purchase nuclear and radioactive materials and transport them abroad. The agency did not disclose the suspects’ nationality or the country where they intended to transport the materials.

First Deputy Head of the SSSG, Lasha Magradze, had then said that the suspects were planning to “illegally purchase nuclear material uranium and radioactive substance cesium-137 for USD 3 million and transport it illegally to another country.” According to Magradze, the suspects had been regularly traveling to Georgia “in recent weeks” to arrange “favorable conditions” for acquiring and transporting the materials. He noted the substances in question are “usually used for criminal purposes, including terrorism.”