Dirty bomb threat high and rising

The threat of terrorists attacking Britain with a radioactive "dirty bomb" has grown rapidly in recent months, a leading defence expert has warned.

	Jailed: Dhiren Barot

Prof Sandra Bell spoke out following the sentencing last week of seven al-Qaeda "foot soldiers" who had plotted dirty bomb attacks in Britain and the United States.

The men were jailed for a total of 136 years at Woolwich Crown Court. Their leader, Dhiren Barot, is serving life for conspiracy to murder.

Prof Bell, the director of homeland security at the Royal United Services Institute, said: "The threat from dirty bombs is now higher than it was two years ago, and has increased significantly over the last six months.

"I used to think you had more chance of winning the lottery than of being attacked with radiation weapons, but times are changing." She said that turmoil in parts of Africa and the former Soviet Union had created a black market in radioactive materials which could be used to lace a conventional bomb.

"Rather than maximise civilian casualties, the terrorists are now trying to cause as much disruption to public services as possible," she said. "Widespread radiation emitted by dirty bombs would be ideal for this."

The Sunday Telegraph has learned that in an effort to combat the growing threat, the Government has begun secretly installing radiation detectors and X-ray machines at ports, which are perceived to be less secure than airports. The first of the devices, which scan cargo and containers for hazardous material, is already in operation at Southampton. It has been donated by US authorities under Washington's Secure Freight Initiative.

Detectors have also been installed at Port Busan in South Korea, whose neighbour North Korea exploded an atom bomb in a test last year, and at Port Qasim in Karachi, Pakistan.

Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5, warned three years ago that it was "only a matter of time" until terrorists launched a dirty bomb attack on the West.