Looking for a Dirty Bomb?

Weapons grade plutonium is set to be carried in an old unarmed ferry from Britian to France under conditions that may not be very secure when compared to past shipments.

An undisclosed quantity of plutonium oxide powder is soon to leave Britain for France. This is not too unusual as at any given time nuclear weapons, fuel, depleted uranium, plutonium and nuclear waste of all kinds are on the move somewhere. What is unusual is that this shipment will be moved with almost no security. According to an article in the Independent, the plutonium will be moved in an old unescorted, unarmed roll-on ferry. While reportedly the shipment will be guarded by side armed equipped officers from the UK's Civil Nuclear Constabulary, no fixed armament will be carried.

This may not be too big of a deal on closer look. Most plutonium of this type is carried in special casks. According to standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the specialized casks "are built to standards set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The casks are massive, made from thick forged steel, and weigh around 100 tons. Their security and reliability are carefully tested, including being dropped 9 meters onto an unyielding target, immersed in 15 meters of water for at least 8 hours, and fire tested, where the cask is fully engulfed in 800-degree-Celsius temperatures for 30 minutes."

However this voyage should be compared to other around the world. For instance Japanese nuclear fuel is carried by armed freighters escorted by the Shikishima (PLH 31), a 6500-ton destroyer sized Japanese Maritime Defense vessel with helicopters, 30mm cannons, machine guns, and an embarked commando force.

If you ask me, by doing this is such an apparently slapstick way and leaking the operation to the media, maybe the SAS is setting up a mousetrap for Al Qadea with this ship as the cheese?