8 September 2009

THE Erongo Police on Friday arrested three suspects for being in possession of, and allegedly wanting to deal in, 170 kg (375 pounds) of uranium oxide (U3O8).

At the current market price of US$47,50 per pound, the confiscated material is worth about N$135 000. This is believed to be the biggest theft of uranium oxide in Namibia. In 2004, three men were arrested for the theft of about 28 kg of U3O8. Recently the police found three 500ml bottles filled with uranium oxide in a house in Arandis.

The Erongo Police Chief, Commissioner Festus Shilongo, told The Namibian that the three suspects had been under surveillance since June to establish the total number of people involved in the alleged syndicate, and their reasons for stealing U3O8 from the mines.

"We also wanted to remove this dangerous material from the community and get it back into safe storage," he said.

According to Shilongo, the suspects were allegedly on their way to sell the material for U$35 000 (N$265 000) per kg. They were stopped and arrested on the road between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay.

"Obviously these people did not know what they were asking in relation to the actual worth of uranium on the international market," said Shilongo.

"However, because of greed and lack of information they wanted U$35 000 per kilogramme. We are therefore convinced that the purpose for their criminal activity was purely for commercial purposes."

"We request the management of the uranium mines to educate their employees and the public at large about the danger posed by this mineral, including its market value," Shilongo said.

On Sunday, Rio Tinto's Rössing Uranium Mine sent out a press statement on the incident. It said the Police had requested assistance in testing and identifying the confiscated materials, "which was done and confirmed to be radioactive material".

Rössing's management expresses concern about illegal possession of uranium and wishes to inform the general public that uranium in small quantities has no commercial value as it can only be used in overseas nuclear power reactors after the uranium has been converted, enriched, and assembled into fuel rods for nuclear power stations to generate electricity," the statement read.

The three suspects, Abraham Isack, Riaan Maasdorp and David Shindinifa, appeared in the Swakopmund Magistrate's Court yesterday before acting Magistrate Gerda Engelbrecht. The State was represented by Prosecutor Maria Shilongo.

They face a charge of dealing in uranium. All three suspects opted to be represented by a private lawyer. The case was postponed until September 17 for further investigation. The suspects were not granted bail due to the possibility of them interfering with the investigation. They remain in Police custody in Swakopmund.

Riaan Maasdorp is an employee at Rössing Uranium, Abraham Isack is a contractor at Rössing Uranium and David Shindinifa is a member of the Namibian Defence Force, according to Jerome Mutumba, Rio Tinto's RössingUranium Manager Corporate Communications & External Affairs. He told The Namibian that internal disciplinary action will be taken.

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