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2007 February 21   13:00

Cargo arrives in Novorossiysk with background radiation 664 times more than normal

Cargo was found on a ship in the port of Novorossiysk that arrived from Georgia with exceeded level of background radiation: 664 times more than the normal one. The dangerous cargo was revealed during a check-up of Strelets motor ship that arrived to Novorossiysk from Georgia with several cars onboard. When customs officers checked one of the cars, the device showed 58 microsievert, which is 664 times more than natural radiation background. A resident of Armenia, who was driving the car, had to unpack his luggage. Six sacks were filled with metal studs, plates and rods with total weight of 125 kilo. During the second check it turned out that the scrap metal was a source of all types of radioactivity – alpha, beta and gamma rays. Under preliminary conclusion, the contents of the sacks are solid radioactive waste.

Driver of the car who was heading from Armenia to Moscow via a Georgian port says he found the sacks in a “midden near a road café” and took them for personal needs. The custom officers, in order not to jeopardize themselves and people nearby isolated the sacks that under all norms are to be buried. The man risks of being fined or even imprisoned, if the incident is treated as radioactive waste smuggling, Mayak Radio informs.

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