UK airport on LOCKDOWN as ‘Doomsday’ jet secretly flies nuke bomb ingredient to US. Dozens of armed police stood guard at a Scottish airport today as uranium – the stuff nuclear bombs are made from – was loaded onto a giant American Air Force jet. The C-17 Globemaster arrived at Wick John O’Groats airport yesterday lunchtime to pick up the cargo bound for South Carolina. A huge security operation kicked into place full in the face of Britain’s severe terror threat – which was only recently downgraded from critical. Police sniffer dogs were deployed as armed police guarded a convoy of two trucks carrying the waste as it was transported 31 miles in thick steel containers from Dounreay to Wick Airport. It arrived at 2pm today as gun-toting police patrolled perimeter fences and sealed off all roads into the airport. The cargo was loaded before the huge jet finally took to the runway at 4.25pm and departed for a short hop across to RAF Lossiemouth in Moray to top off with fuel. This had to take place as the runway at Wick is 1,712ft too short for a fully loaded Globemaster to get airborne.
Daily Star 3rd June 2017 read more »
AN American military plane carrying a deadly cargo of radioactive waste has taken off from Scotland for the second time. Dozens of armed police stood guard yesterday as highly-enriched uranium was loaded on to a giant American Air Force transport jet at Wick John O’Groats Airport. The secretive operation – signed off by David Cameron and Barack Obama last year – aims to clear a backlog of nuclear waste stored at Dounreay power station in Caithness. But critics have blasted the high-security flights as unsafe and “morally reprehensible”. Independent nuclear consultant John Large said: “This is pretty toxic stuff. It is weapons grade material. It is quite active. It’s ticking away and it does not turn itself off. “In the States, you cannot overfly with this type of material. The plane will put down on the east coast and the shipment will continue under armed escort by rail or by road.” He said the risks in transporting nuclear waste by aircraft included “in the event of a crash, the fuel being engulfed in fire, the packages breaking down and the fuel igniting”. The waste sent to the US will be swapped for medical grade uranium to make radio isotopes for detecting cancer. Yesterday’s operation got underway at 10am, with the US C-17 Globemaster arriving in the early afternoon to pick up its dangerous cargo. Armed police guarded two trucks carrying the uranium – a critical component in nuclear weapons – in re-inforced steel flasks as they travelled the 32 miles from Dounreay to Wick airport. Roads around the airport were closed and sealed off as the deadly waste was delivered at 2pm.
Sunday Post 4th June 2017 read more »