Illegal nuclear mining

last updated 8 January 2015

Shinkolobwe, Congo

Dirt containing uranium ore is being carted out of Congo by the ton, destined for the black market, the Associated Press reported this week. Congo’s Shinkolobwe mine, the source of the uranium used in the first atomic bombs, has been closed since the ’60s, but illegal mining has resumed in the past few years. Most of the diggers are selling the dirt to buyers who want it for its rich cobalt concentration, not for the smaller amounts of radioactive uranium. But officials can’t rule out a possible sinister destination for some of the uranium. “The problem is,” said engineer John Skinner, “nobody knows where it’s all going.”