Britain’s counter-terrorism police have launched an investigation after material contaminated with a radioactive substance was found at London’s Heathrow Airport last month.
Uranium was detected in a package at the airport on Dec. 29. According to the Sun newspaper, which first reported the incident, the package had originated from Pakistan and arrived in the UK on a flight from Oman.
The uranium was found in a shipment of scrap metal, according to the BBC.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement issued on Tuesday evening: “We can confirm officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were contacted by Border Force colleagues at Heathrow after a very small amount of contaminated material was identified after routine screening within a package incoming to the UK on Dec. 29, 2022.”
Commander Richard Smith, head of the Met’s counter-terrorism command, said: “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.
“Although our investigation remains ongoing, from our inquiries so far, it does not appear to be linked to any direct threat. 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 force said the material has been identified as being contaminated with uranium, no arrests have been made and officers are working with partner agencies to investigate and ensure there is no risk to the public.
“However, it does highlight the excellent capability we and our partners have in place to monitor our ports and borders in order to keep the public safe from any potential threats to their safety and security that might be coming into the UK,” the force added.
Cabinet minister Steve Barclay said he hoped for more information in “due course.”
Police to ‘Follow Every Avenue’
Commander Smith said on Wednesday morning that the police will “follow every avenue” to find out about the circumstances.Giving evidence at the Police and Crime Committee of the London Assembly, Smith said that it was “understandable” that media reports on the incident would attract “considerable attention and potentially concern.”
He said: “The circumstances are that in the course of routine scanning at London Heathrow an element of cargo was identified that was emitting a radioactive signal. There are procedures in place to deal with these sorts of incidents and those procedures were enacted. As part of that, the counter-terrorism commands were contacted and have opened an investigation into the surrounding circumstances.”
The commander said that the radioactive material does not pose a risk to public health and public safety.
He said: “The amount of material we’re talking about was very small, and there was no threat to public health or public safety identified.”
Britons ‘Should Be Pretty Reassured’
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical and biological weapons expert, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that people should be reassured that it was detected.He said: “It’s very clear that the comprehensive surveillance network that we have in place in this country, run by the security services, the police, and others, has actually worked and picked up potentially a very dangerous containment that could provide a threat.
De Bretton-Gordon, the former head of the UK’s nuclear defence regiment, added: “In this country I think people should be pretty reassured that we’re not going to see dirty bombs from this type of material.”
Asked what could have happened to the metal, he said: “If it is for nefarious reasons, for bad reasons, to create mayhem by Iranians or some sort of Russian proxy, then that is an area of concern. But I think the key thing is that there are people looking out for this, and this should not worry the public unduly.”
