The radioactive element 'plutonium' used in nuclear weapons was available for purchase by ordinary people
Plutonium , a radioactive element, is produced when uranium , another radioactive element, absorbs neutrons, and most of it is artificially produced, except for a small amount found in uranium ore. Plutonium is also the main fissile material in nuclear weapons, but it was revealed that ordinary people could purchase plutonium on a US website.
'Naive' science fan faces jail for plutonium import | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43449645
Plutonium 50mm Lucite Cube — Luciteria
https://www.luciteria.com/element-cubes/plutonium-for-sale
In August 2023, an Australian man named Emmanuel Lidden was arrested for violating Australia's nuclear non-proliferation laws by 'attempting to transport plutonium samples to his parents' home in a Sydney suburb.'
'Naive' science fan faces jail for plutonium import
https://au.news.yahoo.com/naive-science-fan-faces-jail-053025281.html
Border patrol agents, firefighters, police, and emergency services rushed to seize Lidden's plutonium, but his lawyer, John Sutton, claims that Lidden himself had no plans to manufacture nuclear weapons and was merely an 'innocent collector.'
Lidden, who was also a stamp and banknote collector, said he was trying to collect all the elements in the periodic table and purchased plutonium from a 'US-based science website.' The item was delivered from the US to his parents' home in Australia, violating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act. Lidden faces up to 10 years in prison under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act and is awaiting sentencing on April 11, 2025.
When this case became a hot topic on the social news site Hacker News, some people commented that 'Australian law is terrible for punishing Lidden, who was apparently just ignorant.' Users are also interested in 'Which website did Lidden buy the plutonium from?'
One website where Lidden may have purchased plutonium is Luciteria Science , based in Washington state, USA. Luciteria Science sells a variety of chemical elements, including radioactive elements, online, and although sales have ended at the time of writing, a product page for 'acrylic cubes containing plutonium' remains.
Looking at the product page, it is indeed labeled 'Plutonium 50mm Lucite Cube.' Looking at the attached photo, there is an old cylindrical object enclosed in the center of the acrylic cube.
Plutonium is a radioactive element that rarely exists in nature, and most of the plutonium on Earth is either artificially produced or contained in spent nuclear fuel. Therefore, plutonium is rarely available on the market, although in the past 'products containing plutonium' have been sold.
In the 1960s, the first commercial smoke detectors were sold in the Soviet Union. Smoke detectors at the time, including those in Western countries, were equipped with a radioactive source and a device to detect that radiation. If smoke drifted between them, the radioactive signal would be disrupted and an alarm would be set off. As a result, smoke detectors at that time contained trace amounts of radioactive material; American-made ones contained
The plutonium in smoke detectors made in the Soviet Union in the 1960s was so tiny that it weighed just 35 billionths of a gram, but still emitted 0.4 mSv of radiation per second. Luciteria Science packaged the plutonium in these smoke detectors in acrylic and sold it.
Russian law prohibits the possession of radioactive smoke detector sources that contain plutonium and strictly regulates their export outside the country, including the arrest of a man in Kyrgyzstan in 2004 trying to sell such devices.
In the United States, opinions are divided as to whether it is legal or illegal for ordinary citizens to possess plutonium. Some say it is OK if a license is obtained from the state or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but others point out that there is no license for ordinary citizens to possess plutonium.
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