ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the 1990s news media began to report an increasing number of cases in which nuclear materials and radioactive isotope sources were subjects of illicit trafficking. These initial cases contained material emanating from the Former Soviet Union and caused great concern among states and international organizations that nuclear material involved in trafficking might become implicated in weapons production, and that radioactive sources used in an unauthorized way would cause health and safety effects to individuals, the public in general or the environment.
