British Nuclear Secrets Stolen

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Courtesy Of: The Sunday Express

Exclusive By: Gordon Thomas

29/10/06

The secrets of Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent are feared stolen, the Sunday Express can reveal.

It is claimed they disappeared from a high-security base in the U.S.

CIA and FBI agents launched an inquiry after top-secret material was found under a mattress in a caravan near the base during a drugs raid.

Security services fear the material includes details of Britain's Trident Submarine-launched missiles as well as other weapons.

Under a pact negotiated during the Cold War, British secrets are kept at the base. The caravan was used by a known drug dealer who sold drugs to staff at the base in New Mexico.

Shocked agents uncovered computer drives under the mattress. These were traced to a rogue technician at the complex.

...A Los Alamos police spokesman said: "The stolen classified documents were found during a drug raid. The woman holds a responsible position in the facility."

...MI6 and the CIA--both involved in the FBI-led investigation--want to know if the woman stole the material to feed a drug habit, or if she was working for a terror group or a foreign intelligence service.

They also want to know how she smuggled the hard drives past such tight security.

Nuclear weapons expert Professor Paul Rogers, of Bradford University, said: "The relationship between the US and the British has always been very close. In the days of nuclear testing our tests were held at Los Alamos."

...The sprawling Los Alamos complex is the core of America's own nuclear defences. There are scores of laboratories for developing weapons systems.

...Discs stored at the base's vaults contain, among much else, details of Britain's nuclear weapons and their current positions.

The discs are designed to fit into laptop computers carried by members of America's Nuclear Emergency Search Team. The members are on permanent standby to fly to the scene of any nuclear incident within the US.

An official of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said: "The missing discs contain detailed technical information on how to disarm and dismantle nuclear devices so they could be easily transported. By the same token the data would also enable the weapons to be reactivated."

Source:

http://express.lineone.net/news_detail.html?sku=630