Probe Launched After UK Border Officers Find Uranium at Heathrow
Probe launched after UK border officers find uranium at Heathrow:
Uranium found in package at UK's Heathrow Airport last month:
LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - A very small quantity of uranium was detected in a package that arrived at London's Heathrow Airport last month, British police said in a statement, adding that it did not appear to be linked to any direct threat nor any public health threat.
The amount of radioactive material, detected by routine scanning on Dec. 29, was extremely small and had been assessed by experts as posing no risk, Richard Smith, head of London police's Counter Terrorism Command said.
"We were relieved to understand there was no threat to public health or public safety," Smith told the London Assembly. "The consignment that had been identified included a very small amount of contaminated material. We are now conducting further inquiries."
He said the key message was that the airport screening operation had functioned as it should. Police said no arrests had been made.
"We will of course follow every avenue to see what the background of this was and satisfy ourselves that there's no further threat," Smith said. "But I think these are some reassuring messages about what happened."
Heathrow Airport declined to comment and referred enquiries to the police.
Uranium can be used for civilian power generation and scientific purposes and is a key ingredient in nuclear weapons. Certain isotopes emit radiation that can be harmful to humans, and the metal itself is toxic if ingested or inhaled.
[...] Media reports suggest it was found in a shipment of scrap metal originating from Pakistan.
"What it may mean is, if London is being used to trade and prove sampling capability of what can be sold, this is very serious and if so, it's an indicator of part of the weapons build-up we're seeing," said Dr Sally Leivesley, a risk management consultant.
[Ed's Comment: One source reports that the find was "several kilos of uranium" but this is not confirmed by any other reporting.]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Monday January 16, @12:29AM (2 children)
This was my 1st paranoid thought. Some group is testing them, to see how much uranium they can slip past undetected.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday January 16, @03:42PM (1 child)
Its easy to slip entire people and tons of drugs thru the border, so its more likely scaremongering-as-fundraising.
Think how these brave defenders of the nation prevented someone from shipping a collectible fiestaware plate home from vacation, why without these heros protecting us with their $100M/yr budget we'd be defenseless against international shipping of hundred year old ceramic antiques.
Given the hopolophobic nature of the UK I think we can assume this wasn't some military souvenir of a de-milled depleted uranium round from a tank or whatever as they would be freaking out if that happened.
One unusual use for DU is aircraft counterweights so this might be an airplane part.
Interesting they don't mention the source, destination, or what it was. Imagine a shitty press release about some coke having been found at an airport. I don't think it walked there itself, or spontaneously generated out of thin air, LOL.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Monday January 16, @07:30PM
> hopolophobic
Fear of firearms for those who are NRA subscribers. Also a sign of sanity.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Monday January 16, @01:40AM (3 children)
Dr Emmett Brown. Delivery for you.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Monday January 16, @01:41AM (2 children)
Ah crud, it was plutonium, not uranium, wasn't it?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday January 16, @05:38PM (1 child)
And it was from the
LobbyistsLibyan's. Not Pakistan.How often should I have my memory checked? I used to know but...
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Monday January 16, @10:51PM
I was willing to go off script on that one, but making an "elementary" mistake was just plain terrible. I'll suspend my geek card myself.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ElizabethGreene on Monday January 16, @04:18AM (6 children)
TFA/TFS don't indicate the quantity or form of uranium involved. Was it someone bringing home grandma's glassware, Uranium Oxide aka Yellowcake, or Uranium metal? Enquiring minds want to know.
I have several glass beads that are tinted with Uranium. It's a pretty green color. Those plus a banana, a cobalt drill bit, a microwave oven, a cell phone, and some old civil defense radiation meters* are my "kit" for talking about radiation with the kiddos. It's lots of fun.
* - These include a Geiger counter and an ion chamber detector, but I only use the former. If the latter ever clicks, something has gone very wrong.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Monday January 16, @07:07AM (3 children)
The very last line of TFS!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Monday January 16, @07:50AM
Of course, the link for that part points to a hysterical headline from Boingboing that points to an article that says it was something contaminated with a a very small amount of uranium. Meaning the hysterical first 90% of the article was just talking about theoretical risks had it been a few thousand times more uranium than they actually found.
Summary, If you live in the U.K. and take a vacation that includes Arizona, definitely don't take any rocks home as a souvenir.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday January 17, @02:38AM (1 child)
I missed that, thanks.
The source seems very dubious. E.g. Litvinenko was poisoned with polonium. Uranium doesn't have enough radiation to be toxic in that way, and chemically it's similar to lead.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Tuesday January 17, @05:56AM
I can understand the reluctance of anyone to give an accurate statement of how much uranium was detected. That would give lots of people a strong indication of what quantity might go undetected in subsequent attempts. As it stands, only those who actually sent the uranium know the answer to that question.
While it might not pose the same risk as, say, polonium you also have to remember that for a dirty bomb all that is required to panic the public is the word 'uranium' itself. Governments have to keep the population safe and even the widespread belief that they are unable to do could be enough to bring a government down. So the 'news' or element of interest here is not how dangerous the uranium is or how much was discovered but rather that somebody has tried to import it into the country through routine goods movement. From the government's point of view the fact that it was detected is the important part of the statement.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Monday January 16, @07:32PM (1 child)
> If the latter ever clicks, something has gone very wrong.
Don't you ever see cosmic muons in it? We used to have an ion chamber in our foyer and you could see a muon going through every second or so...
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Tuesday January 17, @02:32AM
> Cosmic Muons
No, I haven't. It's one of the old civil defense meter, and it's possible it's broken or not sensitive enough. I don't have any way to test it. Should I be able to set that off with a small x-ray source?