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Russia rejects US allegations of theft of nuclear materials
Interfax

Moscow, 28 February: Russian Atomic Energy Minister Aleksandr Rumyantsev has categorically denied reports of the theft of a significant amount of nuclear fissile materials in Russia in a Thursday [28 February] interview with Interfax.

Reports said the claims about the theft of fissile materials in the Russian nuclear industry were made in a CIA report to the US Congress.

The document quoted a Russian official as saying that in 1998 "a significant amount of fissile materials was stolen, which is sufficient for making a nuclear bomb" in Russia.

According to the CIA, there were also unreported cases of theft and smuggling, though the scale of such offences was not known.

"Fissile materials have not disappeared," Rumyantsev told Interfax.

"We do not confirm such reports," he said.

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