See also nohobot's Russian Nuclear Store 'a Powder Keg'

More from the scotsman:
"Since the end of the Cold War, Russia has sharply cut its stockpile of nuclear warheads, from 45,000 to less than 7,000. Now, it is its non-weaponised nuclear material that causes greatest concern in western "capitals."

"By some estimates, Russia has 1,200 tonnes of highly enriched uranium and 15,000 tonnes of solid spent nuclear fuel. There are some 1,000 nuclear power plants of various types."

"In 2002, the G8 group of rich nations agreed to spend as much as £10 billion securing and decommissioning Russia's nuclear, chemical and biological research sites....Like Ukraine, Russia has received substantial aid from western countries to help dismantle and securely store both weapons-grade plutonium and much of its former submarine fleet."