Brussels attacks: Nuclear plants security clampdown amid dirty bomb plot fears

Belgium’s nuclear agency has launched a security crackdown amid fears the country’s plants could be a target for extremists. It has revoked the entry badges of some staff and has denied access to others. Nuclear control agency spokeswoman Nele Scheerlinck said on Friday that “in recent days, several people have been refused access to the nuclear sites”. It follows reports that bombers, Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui were part of a plan uncovered earlier this year to try to obtain radioactive material for a dirty bomb. In December, Belgian security services discovered they had been secretly videotaping one of the country’s senior nuclear scientists.

When you start filming someone in the way they did, the logical conclusion is that they wanted to abduct that person and to obtain radioactive material

Belgian security official

Immediately after Tuesday’s attacks on the Brussels airport and subway, security was boosted around Belgium’s nuclear sites and hundreds of staff were sent home. Scheerlinck said the decision to withdraw badges or deny access usually took weeks and was based on information from the intelligence services and police, as well as a person’s criminal record. Meanwhile, US secretary of state John Kerry had defended Belgium’s counter-terrorism efforts during a brief visit to in Brussels on Friday. After talks with the country’s leaders, he confirmed several FBI agents were involved in the investigation into the attacks but added the carping about Belgium’s shortcomings “is a little bit frantic and inappropriate”.

We will not be intimidated. We will not be deterred

John Kerry

dirty bomb