Toxic cargo of nuclear waste leaves for US
An armed police officer stands guard at Wick John O’Groats Airport yesterday. be swapped for medical grade uranium to make radio isotopes for detecting cancer.
Yesterday’s operation got underway at 10am, with the US C-17 Globemaster arriving in the early afternoon to pick up its dangerous cargo.
Armed police guarded two trucks carrying the uranium – a critical component in nuclear weapons – in reinforced steel flasks as they travelled the 32 miles from Dounreay to Wick airport.
Roads around the airport were closed and sealed off as the deadly waste was delivered at 2pm.
Its cargo on board, the giant jet lumbered along the runway and took off at 4.25pm for the short hop across the Moray Firth to RAF Lossiemouth, where it topped up with fuel under armed RAF guard.
The runway at Wick is 1,712 feet too short for a fully fuelled Globemaster to get airborne.
It then took off for South Carolina, where the uranium will be transported to a nuclear facility in Tennessee.
A further 10 transatlantic flights – each costing around £ 1 million – are expected, but bosses remain secretive over the details.
A spokesman for Dounreay, which is currently being decommissioned, said: “We can confirm nuclear materials are being removed from the site ahead of its closure.
“Compliance with the regulations includes protecting any information about the routes, times, dates and location”.
A police spokesman said: “We are supporting a partner agency’s operation and cannot comment further.”
And a spokesman for Wick John O’Groats airport said it didn’t comment on “specific aircraft movements”.