Outcry as border guards seize British 'dirty bomb' lorry heading for Iran

Daily Mail ^ | July 22, 2006 | Jason Lewis

[Bald Eagle777]

Border guards seized a British lorry on its way to make a delivery to the Iranian military - after discovering it was packed with radioactive material that could be used to build a dirty bomb.

The lorry set off from Kent on its way to Tehran but was stopped by officials at a checkpoint on Bulgaria's northernborder with Romania after a scanner indicated radiation levels 200 times above normal.

The lorry was impounded and the Bulgarian Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NPA) was called out.

On board they found ten lead-lined boxes addressed to the Iranian Ministry of Defence. Inside each box was a soil-testing device, containing highly dangerous quantities of radioactive caesium 137 and americium-beryllium.

The soil testers had been sent to Iran by a British firm with the apparent export approval of the Department of Trade and Industry.

[Bald Eagle777]

This situation is rather interesting, to say the least, which needs investigation. Let's see how this cookie crumbles, or whether it gets swept under the proverbial rug.

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

My bet is on the rug. Thank God for the Bulgarians.

[demkicker]

I do believe God is watching over us.

[Enterprise]

"He said: "The Prime Minister has accused the Iranian Government of sponsoring international terrorism, yet his officials are doing nothing to prevent radioactive material which has an obvious dual use being sold to their military."

Shaking my head here.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Ping

[grey_whiskers]

Does George Galloway (MP) have any connections to the British firm involved?

[Lancey Howard]

I fear it is only a matter of time before there is a nightmare.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Just noticed the article date 7/22/06; also posted here previously

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1670645/posts

Needs a much wider reading audience, however. Glad you posted it tonight.

[Cindy]

Thanks Donna. Your article is more updated than my 2. I'll add it to the list.

INTELLIGENCE-SUMMIT.blogspot.com - "ILLEGAL SHIPMENT OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL TO IRAN SEIZED IN BULGARIA" (July 21, 2006)

Re Bulgaria - Related Article (July 19, 2006)

[Cindy]

Related thread here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1668957/posts

[Bald Eagle777]

Gotcha, didn't see this come up on this particular SITE. Wrong key words, potentially. Good call.

[girlangler]

Another ping Peach, cause you are one of the many paying attention to this.

[proud_yank]

Was just going to ping you on this. Interesting to say the very least.

[Suzy Quzy]

The address makes me be a little skeptical//////Iranian Dept of Defense??

[Suzy Quzy]

The address makes me be a little skeptical//////Iranian Ministry of Defence??

[Diver Dave]

"He said: "The Prime Minister has accused the Iranian Government of sponsoring international terrorism, yet his officials are doing nothing to prevent radioactive material which has an obvious dual use being sold to their military."

Unbelievable!! Might as well remove the security guards and locks on all the world's nuke facilities and install a loading zone for removal of all the spent fuel rods.

"Would you like to Super-size your order, Mohammad?" DUH!!!

Head shaking here too, Enterprise.

[Bald Eagle777]

What is your point? ABC

http://www.mod.ir/
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/mod.htm

[Earthdweller]

Geez Louise. I wonder what Iran was going to do with that.

[King Prout]

wtf?

[Doctor Stochastic]

...radioactive caesium 137 and americium-beryllium....

Sounds like smoke detectors or other testing equipment. The article didn't say how much material was involved.

[Myrddin]

Given the number of radical muslims in Britain, a "British firm" could be a wholly owned enterprise of radical jihadists. Some further investigation is warranted to see whether the correct label is actually "Islamic terrorist group" operating in Britain.

[R_Kangel]

This could have been a disaster.

Whenever I read or hear something like this I can't help but wonder what has actually gotten past the authorities!!!!

With everything going on in the ME and elswhere around the world I am becomming increasingly concerned with what seems to appear like a planned coordinated attempt to strike up events at multiple fronts. It may be all planned or maybe it is all circumstantial. I believe the former.

Something is in the wind and it aint perfume.

[sheik yerbouty]

He is said to be hiding a dirty bum..

[rawhide]

My two questions are:

How many of these detectors got through before these were discovered? Hmmm?

And who is to say that other detectors were not sent to other countries, appearing completely legal and upfront, and then these eventually found their way to Iran?

[SR 50]

ping

[evad]

I do believe God is watching over us.

Sure...but what is He thinking?

[Peach]

Border guards seized a British lorry on its way to make a delivery to the Iranian military - after discovering it was packed with radioactive material that could be used to build a dirty bomb.

I hadn't previously read this; thanks for the ping, girlangler.

The jihadists only need to be right one time for a disaster to occur.

[Enterprise]

And this leads to another worry. It appears that dirty bomb materials were relatively easy for one company to pack up and ship to the Iranian Defense Ministry. But it got intercepted this time. And this is one of our allies! The obvious question is: How many other companies worldwide have already sent dirty bomb materials to the Iranian Defense Ministry which haven't been intercepted? A few? A lot?

[Donna Lee Nardo]

I see I need to work harder at staying 100 percent current. I totally missed your articles on the Bulgaria report previously.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

"Might as well remove the security guards and locks on all the world's nuke facilities and install a loading zone for removal of all the spent fuel rods."

What do you mean? Doesn't our Los Alamos already operate like that?!

[arfan]

AmBe is a neutron source with a a long half life and a very high neutron output.

For implosion type weapons, a neutron source is needed to start the reaction.

A long shelf life neutron source would be required if a country expected to be black-listed by the rest of the world for a while.

Implosion type weapons are important, because they are the small missle-mountable design.

None of this is secret information, by any means.

This could be more ominous than it looks.

[Cindy]

No problemo.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Now stop that; you are starting to sound like an illegal alien. :)

[Cindy]

Smiling.

[Bald Eagle777]

FYI

http://www.orientuk.com/

http://www.shipping-international.com/companies/orient-transport-services.html

[Cindy]

Thank you Bald Eagle 777 for the links.