Buyer Beware: Chinese Tourists Purchase 604 lbs Nuclear Waste
September 15, 2008
Most of the time, if you purchase a "glittering treasure," you're getting something like diamonds or other gems. But two tourists from China's Xinjiang Province discovered the hard way: not all that glitters is gold.
During a trip to Kyrgyzstan, Mr. Liu and Mr. Wang spent $2,000 to buy a 604-lb stone, which they planned to sell for big profits after returning home. To determine the value, they sent a small sample to Beijing for analysis, but the results didn't return they way they anticipated. While the stone was quite unusual, depleted uranium wasn't quite what these treasure hunters were hoping for.
Kyrgyzstan has many uranium disposal sites, as a result of Soviet-era uranium mines. An estimated 900,000 tons of uranium deposits remain in some of the former Soviet republics, including Kyrgyzstan.
The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons considers Kyrgyzstan’s situation especially dire, due to geographically unstable environment, and high instances of landslides.
Though Liu and Wang had extended exposure to the radiation, after an extensive hospital examination, they were found to be in good health. They weren't charged with nuclear trafficking, since they clearly had no idea that they were transporting nuclear waste.
So while they didn't find the fortune they were looking for, at least they can enjoy 15 minutes of fame.
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