Substance under scrutiny after rare element claims
KÜTAHYA
Turkish authorities are examining a substance seized during a traffic stop in Kütahya after a suspect claimed it was californium, though initial tests indicate otherwise.
The substance claimed to be californium, reportedly valued at approximately $70 million, was found concealed in a plastic container placed behind the driver’s seat of a vehicle stopped on a highway.
However, Kütahya Governor Musa Işın said initial examinations by local disaster and emergency authorities found the substance did not match the profile of californium.
The sample was sent to the national mining research agency for further analysis.
Officers discovered the substance upon searching the car. The 31-year-old driver, identified only by the initials B.G., was taken into custody.
A subsequent search of his residence led to the seizure of two unlicensed firearms and 63 rounds of ammunition. B.G. claimed he had found the substance by chance on a roadside a year earlier.
He was detained and later formally arrested by court order. The investigation remains ongoing.
Californium, first synthesized in 1950 at the University of California, Berkeley, does not naturally occur due to its short half-life. Californium-252, with a halflife of 2.64 years, is the most commonly used isotope and is produced in limited facilities in the U.S. and Russia.
Due to its radiological hazards and potential to disrupt red blood cell production through bioaccumulation in bones, the handling and transport of californium is subject to strict international regulation.
