CHINA: Police in hunt for missing uranium
Updated
Four men were charged in China last week with illegally buying and selling a dangerous material, after allegedly trying to sell eight kilograms of uranium to a Hong Kong businessman. The men have all admitted their guilt, although they've argued that they didn't know how dangerous uranium is. Now their case has been delayed, as police hunt for the uranium, with none of the accused willing to say where it is.
Presenter: Xiaoning Mo
Speakers: David Hill, chemist with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization
A court in Guangzhou in China's southern province of Guangdong has heard the four men were entrusted by a uranium mine owner in their home province of Hunan find a buyer for 8 kilograms of uranium, with a minimum price tag of 25 thousand US dollars a kilo. Reporters at the men's hearing say the court heard the four caught a bus to Guangzhou to look for potential buyers, with samples of the uranium in their pockets. A Hong Kong businessman they offered to sell the material to for 200-thousand dollars a kilo, informed the police.
While the group have admitted their guilt, they say they were only ever in possession of the samples, and don't know where the rest of the uranium is. One man says he was shown the full eight kilograms by the mine owner, and police are investigating.
The case has also caused controversy in China, as it's emerged one of the men says he left his sample behind at a Guangzhou hotel where they stayed, and it's believed to have been removed by a room cleaner as rubbish. Its location, too, is unknown.
At this stage, the police aren't giving further details about the case to the media, saying the matter is still under investigation. But a court press release reported by local media suggests the bulk of the uranium should still be in Hunan Province. Police in the two provinces involved are working together to hunt for the missing material.
Reporters at the men's hearing also say many people present were fearful of contamination with radioactivity, especially after one of the men appeared wearing a facemask -- although he told the court he had tuberculosis and wanted to avoid infecting others.
A report from the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy says it has heard reports that up to 20 people have fallen ill in China after being exposed to radioactive material, but there was no mention of this in court documents which only identified the uranium samples as fissile uranium-235 and fissile uranium-238 with purity of 56 percent.
David Hill, a chemist with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization however, says uranium with the level of purity found in the samples poses little threat to human health unless it's inhaled.
