TBILISI (Reuters) -Georgia’s internal security service said on Saturday that it had arrested three Chinese citizens in the capital Tbilisi, for attempting to illegally purchase two kilograms of “nuclear material” uranium, Georgia’s Interpress news agency reported.
Interpress cited the deputy head of Georgia’s State Security Service as saying the three detainees had been planning to buy the uranium for $400,000 and transport it to China, via Russia. The uranium was “nuclear material”, it said, without elaborating on the motive for the planned purchase.
It quoted the security official as saying that the detainees faced charges that could see them imprisoned for up to 10 years.
The security of nuclear materials left over from the Soviet era was one of the biggest concerns after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, of which Georgia was a member. There have been several serious incidents involving the illicit trade in nuclear materials in Georgia over recent decades.
In July, Georgia arrested one Georgian and one Turkish national, charged with the illegal purchase, possession and disposal of radioactive substances, which the national security service said could have been used to make a deadly bomb.
(Reporting by Felix Light; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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