(Newswire.net — July 9, 2019) — Turkish police seized radioactive substance suitable for making an atomic bomb. The element called Californium is very rare and only 18 grams found is worth as much as $ 72 million, Russia Today reports.
Police in Bolu, in the Black Sea region of Turkey, seized 18 grams of the substance that was synthesized back in 1950 at a laboratory in the University of California, thus named Californium. Allegedly only two countries in the world are producing this substance: The US and the Russian Federation.
Besides for building nuclear weapons, this radioactive substance is used in atomic power plants. The element also has a range of rather innocuous civilian applications. It can be used as part of metal detectors and is used in cancer treatment as well as oil, silver, and gold mining operations.
A total of five people were arrested in the bust by Turkish police. The mixture was taken to the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) for a detailed analysis.
The market value of the 18.01 grams of the substance Californian that was found stashed away in a car is allegedly a whopping $72 million.
In a statement from the governor’s office in Bolu, the special anti-smuggling and organized crime police force conducted an action in which a car was monitored.
A suspicious car was stopped, and after a detailed search police officers found 18.01 grams of Californian that was stashed under the gear stick wrapped in a bag. Officers had to cut the upholstery to get to the parcel.
The investigation would determine the origin of this dangerous substance.
This is not the first time Turkish police arrested suspects for smuggling radioactive materials. Back in 1998 the Istanbul Finance and Customs agents arrested eight people on suspicion of smuggling nuclear materials allegedly coming from Russia. Among non-active materials agents found around 13 pounds of active plutonium.
The investigation later confirmed that it was Russian plutonium, stolen from a Kazakhstan military base.