nuclear-news

Secret trucks, ships, trains on a 7,000 mile radioactive waste journey

Around the world there is a race to secure vulnerable material before terrorists can get their hands on it….ideal for a so-called dirty bomb. “You can put it in your hand. You can wrap a stick of dynamite around it and you can put it in your backpack or purse,” explains John Kelly of the IAEA. “And you can create a disaster in just about any city.”…

VIDEO BBC News – Secret journey to safeguard radioactive material
A secret journey to take Serbian nuclear fuel to safety, BBC News, Gordon Corera, 22 Dec 10, AEA’s John Kelly on the dangers of transporting nuclear fuel rods A shipment of nuclear fuel has arrived in Russia after a top-secret international operation to remove it from Serbia, where it was feared terrorists could seize it to make a nuclear or dirty bomb.

In the dead of night, armed men in balaclavas surround a long convoy of trucks in the woods just outside Belgrade. Radios crackle as they prepare for a long journey.Their mission is to escort a dangerous cargo, the kind terrorists would dearly like to get their hands on.
Inside blue, bomb-proof, fire-proof containers on the trucks are 2.5 tons of radioactive material, including 13kg of highly enriched uranium that could be used for a nuclear weapon.

This is the largest shipment of its type ever made, and will clear Serbia of all its civilian highly enriched uranium…….Worry list: Yellow tape seals off corridors and wires hang loose. Security has been improved in recent years with new access controls and CCTV cameras, but this site was still top of the global worry list. Around the world there is a race to secure vulnerable material before terrorists can get their hands on it….

At 0200, the long, snaking convoy heads out of the gate.

About 3,000 Serbian police have been drafted in for the operation. The roads have been cleared of traffic and police line the route….

Negotiating the route and gaining permission for the material to pass through countries that would accept it took five years of planning, and close co-operation between US, Russian officials and International Atomic Energy (IAEA) officials.

The Vinca fuel rods are considered particularly dangerous because of their handy size (about 15cm/6in long) and the fact that their radioactivity has lessened, making them easier to handle.

This makes them ideal for a so-called dirty bomb.

“You can put it in your hand. You can wrap a stick of dynamite around it and you can put it in your backpack or purse,” explains John Kelly of the IAEA.

“And you can create a disaster in just about any city.”…

Officials also hint that special measures are taken to track the boat in international waters, but are unwilling to say exactly what these are.

The ship travels through the Mediterranean, past Gibraltar and through the English Channel on its way to the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk.

….In all, the containers will have made a journey of close to 11,300km (7,000 miles) taking over a month.

In Murmansk, the material is unloaded on to a train to be taken on the final stage of its journey to the Mayak reprocessing facility in the Urals.

BBC News – A secret journey to take Serbian nuclear fuel to safety

December 23, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties