Trade in MOX is the real threat to security
The allegation that Al Queda terrorists were contemplating
the
development of dirty nuclear bombs begs the questions: from
where would they have got the material.
The US government is a key player in the politics and trade
of
nuclear material. If Al Queda planned to detonate a
radioactive
dirty bomb, then the US Administration should look to their
own
back yard for the source of this deadly matter.
"The US Administration directs and negotiates the sale of
nuclear material that is capable of making both dirty and
more
sophisticated nuclear bombs. It also has wholly insufficient
safeguards for its own deposits of nuclear waste. It is
right
that US citizens should be appalled at the prospect of
anyone
even contemplating exploding a radioactive weapon in their
country, as any other citizen would, but what is needed now
is
a global ban on nuclear materials, not just a focus on a
single
terrorist threat," said Greenpeace disarmament campaigner,
William Peden.
A shipment of plutonium sanctioned by the US Administration
is
currently being made ready in Japan for transport to the UK
in
the coming weeks. On its own it could create 50 "dirty
bombs".
" Nuclear weapons are not created in caves in Afghanistan.
The
material to produce them is traded on a global scale and
stored,
usually without adequate safety or security, in the USA,
Europe
and Asia. Until that global trade is ended, the US and every
other country will be under threat." added Peden.