5 ms·

Yeah, I'm trying to think of a reason for a corrupt military official NOT to sell some of the nuclear fuel, or any other part. I cannot think of one. He's not

Yeah, I'm trying to think of a reason for a corrupt military official NOT to sell some of the nuclear fuel, or any other part. I cannot think of one. He's not likely to get caught, and if he is, well that means Russia fired their nukes, and so the fact that he's caught is not even the biggest of his worries. More worrisome is the risk of a corrupt Russian official selling nukes (or parts thereof) to some other organization.

pseudo0 3y ago
The hard part would be finding a buyer. North Korea already has their own domestic capability, and Iran is using their current situation as a negotiating point. Beyond that, who would even want black market nuclear fuel? It theoretically could happen at small scales though, eg. The Apollo Affair where Israel's nuclear program was allegedly kick-started by the illicit diversion of nuclear fuel from the US. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apollo_Affair https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apollo_Affair
- mdorazio 3y ago
  > Beyond that, who would even want black market nuclear fuel? Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations would absolutely want it for the dirty bomb potential.
lordnacho 3y ago
But the corruption wouldn't necessarily be to sell the nuke materials. It could be something like allowing the maintenance team to staffed by nepobabies of important people, on the agreement that nothing is actually done. That way the general buys some favor with the state's money, the and the kids get an income for doing nothing.
aylmao 3y ago
This is a very short-sighted take, that relies on the assumption Russians are comically corrupt and incompetent. I'm sure the mechanisms to prevent this sort of theft that are in place in the USA have similar analogues in Russia, starting with inspections of facilities and background checks of personnel.
- laserdancepony 3y ago
  The current three-day special operation has shown the world how incompetent and corrupt the russian leadership is, no need for gloves.
  - aylmao 3y ago
    Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to underestimate an enemy like that. Thinking the other side is incompetent or in the brink of losing is the kind of thinking kept the 20 year, $2.313 trillion Afghanistan War going, and we know how that ended.

pseudo0 3y ago

The hard part would be finding a buyer. North Korea already has their own domestic capability, and Iran is using their current situation as a negotiating point. Beyond that, who would even want black market nuclear fuel? It theoretically could happen at small scales though, eg. The Apollo Affair where Israel's nuclear program was allegedly kick-started by the illicit diversion of nuclear fuel from the US. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apollo_Affair https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Apollo_Affair

mdorazio 3y ago
> Beyond that, who would even want black market nuclear fuel? Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations would absolutely want it for the dirty bomb potential.

lordnacho 3y ago

But the corruption wouldn't necessarily be to sell the nuke materials. It could be something like allowing the maintenance team to staffed by nepobabies of important people, on the agreement that nothing is actually done. That way the general buys some favor with the state's money, the and the kids get an income for doing nothing.

aylmao 3y ago

This is a very short-sighted take, that relies on the assumption Russians are comically corrupt and incompetent. I'm sure the mechanisms to prevent this sort of theft that are in place in the USA have similar analogues in Russia, starting with inspections of facilities and background checks of personnel.

laserdancepony 3y ago
The current three-day special operation has shown the world how incompetent and corrupt the russian leadership is, no need for gloves.
- aylmao 3y ago
  Personally, I don't think it's a good idea to underestimate an enemy like that. Thinking the other side is incompetent or in the brink of losing is the kind of thinking kept the 20 year, $2.313 trillion Afghanistan War going, and we know how that ended.