LONDON, June 19 (UPI) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency has alerted African nations to be on the look-out for traffickers in dirty-bomb materials.
"Illicit trafficking in nuclear materials is an increasing problem for states in Africa," according to an internal report quoted by the Finacial Times of London. The report said the IAEA had sent special emmisaries to Nigeria and Tanzania to deal with suspicious material seized from smugglers.
The ease of making such a "radiation scatter" bomb means it is a potent weapon of terror.
"What I am afraid of is that if an incident occurred in certain cities today, there would be a complete panic," Abel Julio Gonzalez of the IAEA told the Times.
Police in the Georgia Republic said Wednesday they found two metal boxes stuffed with radioactive byproducts of nuclear fission, Cesium-137 and Strontium-90. Police in Thailand arrested another suspect attempting to sell 70 pounds of Cesium-137 Tuesday.
