Moldova seized almost two kilogrammes of the radioactive substance Uranium-238 from a suspected group of traffickers including former interior ministry officials, officials said yesterday.

Police found 1.8 kilogrammes of the substance in a garage in the capital Chisinau where it was under guard and in a special container, said interior ministry spokesman Chiril Motpan.

He said that the radioactive substance had been brought to Chisinau via contraband and the people linked to the operation wanted to sell it for nine million euros.

“The suspects are under arrest,” said Mr Motpan, adding that they had previous convictions for possessing radioactive materials in Moldova, Russia and Romania.

He said the group of seven people included two former interior ministry officials who were now retired.

The identity of the substance was confirmed when one single gram was sent for analysis in the United States where it was confirmed to be Uranium-238, he added.

“Seven members of the criminal group came under suspicion of police in the middle of June when they started to look for ways of selling the radioactive material,” Mr Motpan said.

It was not clear from where the substance was obtained.

Experts have repeatedly expressed fears over traffickers obtaining nuclear materials from the former Soviet Union with the aim of selling them on to rogue groups in the hope of making so-called dirty bomb.

Uranium-238 is the commonest of the three radioactive isotopes of uranium.

It is not a fissile substance, which means that it cannot by itself unleash a chain reaction. But it can be converted to create plutonium – a source for nuclear power and nuclear warheads.