Police hold £50m ‘nuke smugglers’

POLICE in Turkey have seized 3lb of a radioactive material that had been due to be sold on the black market for £50million.

Four men were arrested after police searched found the stash of Californium in a vehicle in capital Ankara after a tip-off.

Californium is a synthetic radioactive element – produced only by Russia and the US – which can reportedly be used to ‘kickstart nuclear reactors’.

The men are believed to be part of a criminal organisation planning on selling the Californium for $ 72million (£ 51.2million) on the black market, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.

It is not known who they were planning on selling the material to, but potential clients could include Iran and North Korea.

According to Turkish newspapers, the material had been smuggled into the country and, though no source nation had been established, the Californium may have come from Russia. The seized material was taken to the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority for further examination, NTV said.