--- title: "Dirty Bomb Ingredients Reportedly Stolen From Seized Chernobyl Site" description: "Looters have reportedly seized radioactive dirty bomb materials from a lab near the site of the Chernobyl disaster, according to Science." date: "2022-03-29" modified: "2022-03-29" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/dirty-bomb-ingredients-reportedly-stolen-chernobyl" categories: - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "chernobyl" - "dirty bomb" - "nuclear" - "the digest" --- # Dirty Bomb Ingredients Reportedly Stolen From Seized Chernobyl Site ![Looters have reportedly seized radioactive dirty bomb materials from a lab near the site of the Chernobyl disaster, according to Science.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Dirty Bomb According to an [alarming story by *Science*]() late last week, radioactive materials have gone missing from the Chernobyl disaster site that experts say could be used to make a "dirty bomb" — a dreaded DIY weapon that would mix nuclear matter with conventional explosives to create a very nasty weapon. After Russia [took the 1986 disaster site]() shortly after invading Ukraine, looters — it's unclear whether they were Russian operatives or some other group — apparently seized radioactive materials from a lab near the site, according to *Science*. And that's not all the dangerous stuff that's unaccounted for. Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants director Anatolii Nosovskyi told the magazine that he had lost contact with another nearby lab that had been holding "powerful sources of gamma and neutron radiation," meaning that the "the fate of these sources is unknown to us." ## Bad News Needless say, this is [even more bad news]() after a chaotic and deadly invasion that's illustrated the immense danger and uncertainty involved in an armed conflict between two nuclear powers. In addition to the [remote yet terrifying possibility]() of a nuclear strike stemming from the conflict, Ukraine's nuclear power plants have become a flashpoint, with experts saying [Russia cut power to the Chernobyl disaster site]() and even [impeded efforts to fight fires]() near it. And in a broader sense, the drama shows the danger of a world with more and more nuclear material, much of it unaccounted for. "There are a lot of radioactive sources that are not on anyone’s radar," nuclear security expert Vitaly Fedchenko, at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told *Science*. "Even Ukraine’s radar." **More on Ukraine:** [*Russian Cosmonauts board Space Station Wearing Colors of Ukraine Flag*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()