My post yesterday was very timely: How close to a catastrophe are we?Daily Mail
A welder carrying the same explosives used in the London Tube bombings has been stopped trying to get into a nuclear power plant.
The site in south-east Sweden was sealed off after the man was halted at the entrance with a plastic bag containing traces of an explosive substance.
Plant operator OKG downplayed the incident, saying there was no threat to the safety of the plant, about 150 miles south of Stockholm.
Police said the man carried a plastic bag with an unknown amount of triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, an explosive used in the London bombings in 2007.
However, plant spokesman Anders Osterberg said there were no explosives inside the bag, but traces of an explosive substance were found on the bag's handle.
A security perimeter with a 1,000ft radius around the plant was set up, but workers already inside were not evacuated. The plant was continuing to operate normally.
The Oskarshamn plant has three nuclear reactors, which produce about 10 per cent of Sweden's electricity supply.
Police received a call from the plant at 7:58am.
"They told us a welder who was going to perform a job there had been stopped in a random security check. He had been carrying small amounts of the highly-explosive material TATP," a spokesman said.
TATP, or triacetone triperoxide, is a high explosive which is extremely unstable, especially when subjected to heat, friction and shock.
Used in the 2005 London terror attacks which killed 52 people, it is a favourite of Al Qaeda and known as the "Mother of Satan" because of its devastating power.
Continue reading: Bomb scare at Nuclear plant
Traces makes it sound like there was only residue on the bag. Obviously, it was much more than that, or they would have just seen a plastic bag.
ReplyDeleteI guess they don't want to alarm the public, much like the police will not tell the public in an area that a serial rapist exists in order to keep the public calm. This doesn't, of course, give the women in the area the opportunity to protect themselves though, must like downplaying this nuclear threat doesn't give the people in the area the opportunity to decide for themselves if they need to make certain decisions to protect themselves.
The only way this guy could have caused serious damage, was if he was working actually inside the reactor facility.
ReplyDeleteDangerous, yes, nuclear meltdown? No.
Britian's nuke reactors are sitting ducks. Always have been.
I suggest fitting naval-type rail guns around them and keeping a close radar watch on the skies.
Why don't the authorities spend some money on security upgrades?
Instead of wasting money prosecuting bloggers and motorists?
It's a question of priorities, and the priorities are being set by a bunch of Socialist fools on behalf of their masters.