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Material seized by CBI not uranium, say scientists

The issue regarding the alleged smuggling of uranium in Madras has taken a new turn after the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research at Kalpakkam declared the material seized was not uranium. The Central Bureau of Investigation has decided to go ahead with the case nevertheless.

The CBI is interrogating the three people caught after the seizure of eight kg of the material from their possession. IGCAR director Dr Placid Rodriguez said the concentration for uranium and thorium revealed that the concentration of these elements were below the detectable limit of 20 parts per million.

CBI officials declined to comment on the IGCAR report, stating they were yet to receive the final report.

They dismissed, as hypothetical, the possibility of the case being dropped if the seized material was not uranium. The officials maintained they had registered a case after getting confirmation from the IGCAR preliminary report and that the CBI would pursue the case to its logical conclusion.

The CBI seized the material on July 16 and registered a case under the Atomic Energy Act on July 20 after receiving the IGCAR's preliminary report, CBI sources said.

The remand report filed before the tenth metropolitan magistrate court quoted the IGCAR preliminary report as saying that the test indicated gamma radiation emission from the material having energy corresponding to uranium-235 and uranium-238 and the approximate estimate of abundance of uranium-235 indicated 1.4 to 2.2 per cent.

While IGCAR sources pleaded ignorance about the preliminary test, the CBI asserted that the test was indeed conducted by the centre.

Interestingly, the final IGCAR statement did not mention the preliminary test or its results.

IGCAR officials admitted, though, that the IGCAR's chemical group conducted the final test under Dr Rodriquez's direct supervision.

Magistrate R Krishnamurthy, before whom the CBI filed the remand report before getting custody of the three accused, expressed surprise that the report was released to the press before it was given to the court.

UNI

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