60 Years Of Security Grandpa Related To The Eradication Of Uranium At London Heathrow Airport

Illustration of London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5. (Wikimedia Commons/Mike McBey)

JAKARTA - An old man in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of a terror offense, after traces of uranium were found at London, England's Heathrow airport in late December, Scotland Yard said.

The man was arrested after counter-terrorism officers searched an address in Cheshire on Saturday for alleged violations under Article 9 of the 2006 Terrorism Act, which includes the manufacture and ownership of radioactive devices.

However, he has been released on bail until April, the London Metropolitan Police said, according to The Guardian.

Previously, Border Force officers found radioactive material in a package shipment that arrived last December 29. A specialist scanner detected uranium, which reportedly arrived on a flight from Oman, when transported to a delivery warehouse, which then triggered an alarm.

Richard Smith, commander of the Metropolitan Police Counterterrorism Command, said: "The discovery of very small amounts of uranium in a package at Heathrow airport is clearly concerning, but this shows the effectiveness of procedures and on-site checks with our partners to detect this type of material."

"Our priority since launching our investigation is to ensure, no direct threats are publicly related. To this end, we are following every possible path of investigation available to us, which led us to make these arrests on weekends," he explained.

"I want to make it clear, despite making these arrests, and based on what we know at this time, this incident does not appear to be linked to any direct threats to the public," he explained.

"However, detectives are continuing their investigation to make sure this really happened," Smith said.

Meanwhile, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said uranium was found during a "routine check" at Heathrow Airport.

Quoting the BBC, Uranium is an element that occurs naturally. Uranium can have nuclear-related uses after being refined, or enriched. This is achieved by the use of centrifuges, machines that rotate at supersonic speed.

Low-enriched Uranium can be used to produce fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. If enriched higher by 20 percent or more, it can be used in research reactors. Meanwhile, weapons-grade uranium is enriched by up to 90 percent or more.