The Nuclear Option
TDI has brought you the story of the Australian terror cell. There were around 18 who were arrested, allegedely in the final stages of a large-scale attack. We had no other details about that attack, where they might have targeted, ect.
Well, a 20-page police report was made avaliable, and it alleges that eight of the suspects had the know-how and were assembling chemicals, detonators, digital timers and batteries to carry out a major bomb attack. And one of the possible targets is a place the men sized up, a nuclear reactor out on the edge of Sydney. The Lucas Heights reactor is used to make radioactive medical supplies.
One of the 18 is a Muslim cleric (of Algerian decsent), born as Abdul Nacer Benbrika, but known also as Abu Bakr. He is descripted as the spiritual leader of both cells. (There was a cell of 8, and a cell of 10, if I'm not mistaken.)
One of the bombers had instructions on how to make TATP, a type of explosive that is similar to that used in the 7/7 attacks. An Australian news report says that the cleric, the leader of the group, gave the order to inflict "maximum damage" as the group planned a violent "jihad". The cell used coded text messages to coordinate meetings.
If the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor was the target, we can all be grateful that an attack was prevented. If a large-scale bomb detonated as a nuclear plant, and it got through the walls, it would be impossible to fathom the deaths and the fallout, both in actual nuclear fallout, and in a geopolitical/military sense. The biggest news story of the decade may have been prevented, and I for one am glad. TDI will, of course, bring you updates in this case throughout the coming days and weeks.
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