Man Had Enough Uranium For Dirty Bomb – Melbourne
May 12, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
A Victorian man who was arrested and charged last month with serious drug offences held enough uranium at a storage facility to make a “dirty bomb”.
The Melbourne Magistrates Court heard yesterday that investigators found the uranium oxide powder at Harcourt, outside Castlemaine, along with drug equipment and a confidential police document.
It was alleged by a detective that Andrew John McNaughton, 45, became a target of the police Petra taskforce in December after “intelligence indicated that he was involved in police corruption by way of sourcing and distributing restricted confidential Victoria Police information”.
The court heard that an explosives expert found that the uranium could be used in the “construction” of a dirty bomb and that other chemicals for drug manufacture could in combination make an “incendiary device”.
Detective Sergeant Peter Kos said in evidence that the uranium was “depleted” and only dangerous if ingested.
He agreed with defence lawyer Rob Stary that it “effectively has no use at all” except as a measure to determine radioactivity.
But Sergeant Kos, who said the maximum penalty in Victoria for possessing uranium was about a $15,000 fine, said its other possible use was for a dirty bomb.
Mr Stary told magistrate Peter Lauritsen that while its presence might cause “disquiet”, there was no suggestion by police the uranium was for “any other sinister purpose”.
Prosecutor Stephen Payne said police opposed bail for McNaughton on grounds that included that he was an unacceptable risk of reoffending and endangering the public.
