As a British expert called the ability of terrorists to grab nuclear material ” a new and emerging threat,” Belgium was on alert Saturday for nuclear-related terrorist actions.
A security guard who worked at a Belgian nuclear plant was shot dead and his security pass was also stolen, the French language Derniere Heure (DH) newspaper reported.
The newspaper, which reported the terrorists who attacked Brussels this week had been lining up a nuclear power plant as a potential target, said the pass was deactivated.
The murder was revealed as authorities acted Friday to confiscate security badges from several workers at one of two nuclear plants. Authorities also disclosed that last year, terrorists video taped the top official at another Belgian nuclear facility. The video was found in the apartment of a suspected terrorist linked to the group that launched the Paris attacks last year.
British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said terrorists getting their hands on nuclear material “was a new and emerging threat.”
Also, the European Union’s counter-terrorism chief warned that Belgium’s nuclear power plants are at risk of a cyber attack.
“I would not be surprised if there was an attempt in the next five years to use the Internet to commit an attack,” Gilles de Kerchove told daily La Libre Belgique.
Meanwhile, the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog issued a warning.
“Terrorism is spreading and the possibility of using nuclear material cannot be excluded. Member states need to have sustained interest in strengthening nuclear security. The countries which do not recognize the danger of nuclear terrorism are the biggest problem,” said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano.
Terrorists have the “means, knowledge and information” to create a nuclear bomb, he said.
Sébastien Berg, the spokesman for the Belgian agency overseeing nuclear issues, said the government noted that nuclear plants have had issues with militants.
In 2012, two employees at a nuclear plant left Belgium to fight for ISIS. One was killed and the other convicted of terror-related activities, but has since been released from prison.
In 2014, a worker at that same plant drained the engines of oil, almost forcing machinery to overheat.
“This was a deliberate act to take down the nuclear reactor, and a very good way to do it,” Berg said.
Source: Western Jouirnalism
