© DHA Photo
Police in northern Turkey's Bolu province have seized $72 million worth of radioactive Californium,
an element used in nuclear weapons and reactors, authorities said Saturday.
Some 18.1 grams (0.63 ounces) of Californium was seized in a car by anti-smuggling and organized crime police, Bolu Governorate said in a statement. Five suspects are being investigated over the incident, it added.
According to the statement, the seized substance was sent to the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK).
However,
a material reported as 1.4 kilograms of Californium seized in a similar bust in capital Ankara in March 2018 had turned out to be an organic substance with no nuclear or radioactive properties. The reported bust at the time was too large in quantity for a scarce element and TAEK soon dismissed the reports after an examination.
Californium is a radioactive chemical element first synthesized at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of California University in 1950. It is considered to be highly hazardous and is used in nuclear reactors as well as in gold, silver and oil mining operations to determine water or oil layers underground.
The U.S. and Russia are the only producers of Californium.
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