ENOUGH plutonium to make five nuclear bombs has gone missing

ENOUGH plutonium to make five nuclear bombs has gone missing from Sellafield in Cumbria in the past 12 months, it has been revealed. The official report which lists �materials unaccounted for� at the UK�s nuclear sites found that 19.1kg of the highly toxic substance was apparently missing from the reprocessing plant.

Any edit: err Irish? posters that know more about this?

www.sundayherald.com...

edit: hella brainfarts going on today

[Edited on 29-12-2003 by Lysergic]

Well, before we go running for the hills, let�s make sure of a few things. From the article it was unclear whether the plant reprocesses fuel for nuclear weapons or for nuclear power generation. Weapons grade Pu is not the same thing as a reprocessed power plant fuel rod. The one quote that claims the missing material is �bomb-grade� is from an anti-nuke activist and may not be entirely accurate.

Secondly, this is an audit of a paper trail. I think it is far more likely that someone goofed up a tracking form than someone walking out of the building with 19 kg of Pu in their pants pocket.

Hell, even if you were taking it out a milligram at a time, you are still talking about having to use remote handling equipment, thousands of lbs of shielding etc.

I have an Irish friend who works for SkyNews. I'll ask him.