Britain’s Metropolitan Police said on Sunday that a 60-year-old man had been arrested in connection with an investigation into the discovery of traces of uranium in a cargo package at London’s Heathrow Airport.
The man was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of terrorism offenses and released on bail as part of the investigation, police said.
A package arriving at Heathrow Airport on December 29 was found to contain very small amounts of uranium.
Richard Smith, head of London police’s counter-terrorism command, said despite the arrest, the incident “does not appear to be linked to any direct threat to the public”.
Officers attended an address in Cheshire yesterday and the man was taken to a police station in north-west England and bailed today until a date in April.
Uranium can be used for civilian power generation and scientific purposes and is an important component of nuclear weapons. Certain isotopes emit radiation that can be harmful to humans, and the metal itself is toxic if ingested or inhaled.
