A counter-terrorism investigation is underway in Britain after a quantity of uranium was discovered in a Pakistani package at London’s Heathrow Airport.
The discovery of a small amount of uranium in a package travelling through Heathrow Airport has reportedly sparked a counter-terrorism investigation.
Uranium can be used to create so-called “dirty bombs” — conventional rather than truly nuclear explosives, as commonly understood, designed to contaminate areas with dangerous radioactive material.
It is therefore highly regulated.
According to a report by The Telegraph, alarm bells were raised after a routine parcel screening undertaken by the UK Border Force on December 29th revealed that uranium was contained within one package originating from Pakistan — the world’s only Islamic nuclear power.
The individuals and/or entities associated with the package reportedly remain unclear, as does its intended final destination.
“I want to reassure the public that the amount of contaminated material was extremely small and has been assessed by experts as posing no threat to the public,” Metropolitan Police officer Richard Smith claimed in relation to the incident.
“Although our investigation remains ongoing, from our inquiries so far, it does not appear to be linked to any direct threat,” he continued.
“As the public would expect, however, we will continue to follow up on all available lines of inquiry to ensure this is definitely the case.”
The discovery of uranium at one of the busiest airports in the world has prompted fears that hostile actors could be looking at constructing a so-called “dirty bomb”.
Also referred to as a “radiological dispersion device”, such explosives are, as previously mentioned, designed to disperse highly dangerous radioactive material across a wide area.
Unlike a standard nuclear bomb which uses a nuclear chain reaction to detonate itself, a “dirty bomb” would tend to rely on more conventional explosives for its propellant, with the radioactive substance being employed mainly to maximise deadly contamination rather than general destruction.
Speaking to Sky News on the subject of whether any group could be planning to produce such an explosive, Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former head of the British Army’s chemical weapons unit, expressed some concern.
“I think it’s excellent that the police and others have interdicted this and made it safe, but we must be on our guard because there are bad people out there who want to do us harm in this particular manner,” he said, emphasising that authorities must remain vigilant that the package could be “some sort of terror type thing”.
He went on to suggest the involvement of radical Islamic terror organisation al-Qaeda, saying that — while there was no direct evidence of such a group’s involvement — it “has their trademark and fingerprints on it”.
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