Customs: ABC’s spent uranium was flagged, released as harmless
ABC News, in a report scheduled to be aired Thursday, said it shipped 15 pounds of depleted uranium from Jakarta, Indonesia, to Los Angeles, as a test of security at a major U.S. port.
A source in the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Security told Shippers’ News Wire that a container in which the uranium was placed had been flagged by Customs’ automated tracking system and examined by inspectors wearing radiation detectors. The spent uranium did not set off the detectors, and the container was released “because it didn’t pose a threat,” the source said.
Later, a trucking company, whose employees had become suspicious, found and reported ABC’s shipment, which consisted of a lead pipe, sealed with the uranium inside, that had been placed in a suitcase.
“We see two positive things in this incident. First, our system flagged the shipment. Second, we have proof that the private transportation industry is cooperating with the government,” the Customs source said.
Maersk Inc., and Maersk Logistics, the ocean carrier involved in the incident, told Shippers’ News Wire that Maersk executives had been interviewed by ABC News, and that the company would have no comment prior to ABC’s telecast.
Customs said the spent uranium that ABC had shipped consisted of only 0.6 percent U235, as opposed to the 20 percent of U235 found in enriched uranium. “You could hold depleted uranium in your hand for three weeks and only get a sunburn,” the source explained.
While it is not illegal to ship depleted uranium into the U.S. with advanced permission and proper documentation, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security said, “we believe ABC News may have broken the law, and we are pursuing an appropriate course of action.”
“It’s not right for a reporter to rob a bank to prove the bank has lax security,” said Dennis Murphy, the spokesman for Homeland Security.