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View Full Version : Japan 'loses' 206kg of plutonium


Robert Harris
01-28-2003, 09:37 PM
Now isn't thsi lovely. Hope it does not wind up in N. Korea or the Middle East.

Japan 'loses' 206kg of plutoniumBy Bayan Rahman in TokyoPublished: January 28 2003 20:12 | Last Updated: January 28 2003 20:12

Japan on Tuesday admitted that 206kg of its plutonium - enough to make about 25 nuclear bombs - is unaccounted for.

Government scientists said that 6,890kg of plutonium had been extracted since 1977 from spent nuclear fuel at a processing plant about 120km north east of Tokyo. But that is 3 per cent short of the amount the plant was estimated to have produced.

About 5kg to 8kg of plutonium are needed to make a 20-kiloton atomic bomb similar to the one that destroyed Nagasaki in 1945.

Experts said the missing amount was surprisingly large.

More: http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1042491288304

Sierra Mike
01-29-2003, 12:14 PM
OH MY GOD!!!

Here's hoping it really didn't wind up in the DPRK...damn, that would be a total freak-out!

SM

Robert Harris
01-29-2003, 12:46 PM
I aam a bit surprised. I always thought the Japanese were rather careful about such things. Really blew this one.

Sierra Mike
01-29-2003, 12:51 PM
I agree. I'm extremely shocked to discover they even HAVE plutonium, not to mention having lost it.

SM

IamZed
01-29-2003, 12:52 PM
I also thought they were meticulous, and no threat at all. I would like to know what happened here.

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