A teenager from the city of Ulyanovsk took an “ownerless” bag from a passenger minibus and later found it contained a rare selenium isotope worth at least $300,000.

      The 14-year-old boy was traveling in a passenger minibus with his mother when he found a plastic bag lying under his seat. He decided to take the bag with him.

      At hime he opened the bag and found a box with 10 grams of selenium-74 isotope, worth between $30,000 and $40,000 per gram, and accompanying documents. The boy's relatives took fright that the find could be radioactive and called police.

      The documents showed that the isotope was intended for enrichment in the Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad. Though the isotope is a radiation source, it is harmless for people. It was found out that the local transportation company hired a passenger minibus driver to deliver it to its partners in Togliatti. And the driver put the bag under one of the seats in his bus.

      Now both the transportation company and the teenager face criminal charges. The boy can be accused of larcery, as, according to law, any thing found in the public transport vehicle should be immediately given to a driver.