The story of that plutonium is almost certainly a wild ride. Probably some side from Myanmar conflict mined it with slave labor to exchange it for guns and ammo, duped guy into buying it as the next hot thing worth millions, only to then being pillaged in some storage (likely with zero precautions) for years as the guy struggled to find anyone to sell it to... but DEA agents. This gives off Snatched vibes.
I do not know how nuclear weapons work, but can weapons grade plutonium be mined? I thought you needed nuclear reactors for that stuff.
You are right. I asked Venice AI and that's what it printed back:
Weapon-grade plutonium refers to plutonium that is highly enriched in the isotope plutonium-239 (Pu-239), which is suitable for use in nuclear weapons. It typically contains more than 90% Pu-239, with the remaining percentage consisting of other plutonium isotopes, such as Pu-240 and Pu-241.
Plutonium is not typically found in its pure form in nature and is usually produced through a process involving uranium. The production of weapon-grade plutonium involves several steps:
The resulting plutonium can be further purified and separated into different isotopes using various chemical and physical processes, including solvent extraction, ion exchange, or electromagnetic separation.
The production of weapon-grade plutonium requires careful control over the neutron flux and irradiation time to minimize the formation of unwanted isotopes like Pu-240, which can make it more difficult to achieve a nuclear explosion.
It's worth noting that not all plutonium produced through this process has weapons-grade purity. Reactor-grade plutonium, for example, typically contains around 50-60% Pu-239 and is not suitable for use in nuclear weapons due to its higher content of unwanted isotopes.
So someone somehow likely obtained a noticeable amount of already enriched plutonium to sell to this yakuza guy.
We need a Japanese version of The Sopranos.
Translated from Japanese:
"I'm telling you, Shinjiro, this nuclear stuff I got from that Kenyan who couldn't pay is harder to shake than shit after over eating pork buns. But, I think I may have a buyer down the line. I just told them I'm Iranian and looking for serious buyers only. They want to meet me at the local McDonald's, which is weird, but I guess it's as good a meeting place as any "
"AJ, get in the Eva!"
Kind of feels like a US effort to work Japan into doing what the MIC and other war hawks want. Use fear to get mass manufactured consent like after 9/11 and the recent "news" pieces from Syria and that New Orleans crime scene (or the 40 beheaded babies).
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