[ RadSafe ] Reuters: China searches for 8 kg of uranium, 20 people sick

[Dave Blaine]

Anyone want to take a guess about what is really going on here?  How
long would it take for 8 kg of HEU to make someone sick?

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2007-08-24T025300Z_01_PEK208148_RTRUKOC_0_US-CHINA-URANIUM.xml

BEIJING (Reuters) - Eight kg (17 lb) of radioactive uranium has gone
missing in China, delaying the verdict in a trial of four men charged
with attempting to sell it on the black market, state media said on
Friday.

A court in Guangzhou, capital of China's southern province of
Guangdong, heard the four tried to sell the material, which can be
used in making nuclear weapons, between 2005 and January 2007, the
China Daily said.

The men were arrested in January after a potential buyer in Hong Kong
reported them to the authorities, the paper said.

However, despite having the four men in custody, police were unable to
locate the uranium.

"The men claimed it had been lost because it had been moved around so
much between potential buyers," the paper said.

A verdict had yet to be reached "as the court said the trial would
continue until authorities tracked down" the uranium.

Under Chinese law, the illegal trade in uranium carries a sentence of
between three and 10 years in prison. In exceptional cases, it can
carry the death sentence.

"The radioactive substance uranium does not explode when it is in its
raw state, but it is very harmful to people's health," Jiang
Chaoqiang, director of the Guangzhou No 12 People's Hospital, told
China Daily.

"Therefore it needed to be found as soon as possible."