Ukraine to Create Radioactive Material Registry

Ukraine plans to create, with U.S. aid, a central registry to track radioactive materials, officials said yesterday (see GSN, Aug. 18).

The United States and Ukraine last week signed a memorandum providing $250,000 in U.S. funding to establish the registry and to train personnel, according to the Associated Press. 

Officials hope the Ukrainian State Register for Radiation Sources will help prevent radioactive material from being diverted for use in “dirty bombs.” The registry “will play a critical role in consolidating and securing radiological sources,” Sheila Gwaltney, deputy chief of the U.S. mission to Ukraine, said in a statement.

Much of the radioactive material left in Ukraine following the dissolution of the Soviet Union is not registered, AP reported.

“Our border service each year prevents a number of people who are attempting to cross the border with radiation sources that can be used for a dirty bomb,” Ukrainian Nuclear Regulatory Committee spokeswoman Tetyana Kutuzova said (Natasha Lisova, Associated Press/Canada.com, Nov. 4).

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