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Japan police probe ‘uranium’ on online auction site
TOKYO, Jan 31, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Japanese authorities are investigating how
a substance that appears to be uranium came to be offered for sale on an
online auction site, a nuclear official said Thursday.
Police are trying to confirm whether the product is radioactive, he said,
with local media reporting investigators are questioning “a number of people”
suspected of involvement in the sale and purchase of the substance.
An initial test of the confiscated powder found it to be radioactive, Kyodo
News said.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority received a report about a year ago about
what was being billed as “uranium” on a popular auction site operated by
Yahoo! Japan.
“We were asked, ‘Is it OK? How is it possible?’ We immediately called
Yahoo!, which then took down the product,” an atomic agency official told
AFP.
The case was referred to police as the law requires special permits for
transferring the ownership of uranium and other radioactive materials, he
said.
Tokyo Metropolitan Police declined to comment on the matter.
Officials at Yahoo! Japan were not immediately available for comment.
Tokyo police have identified the seller and multiple men who successfully
bid for the material online, and have taken them in for questioning on a
voluntary basis, Kyodo News said.
Authorities have also asked the Japan Atomic Energy Agency to confirm
whether the material is depleted uranium or uranium concentrate, Kyodo said.
The product was enclosed in a glass tube and put on sale under the name of
“Uranium 99.9%” at a Yahoo online auction website, Kyodo said.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1640 hrs