London - Hundreds of passengers travelled on a British Airways 747 flight from Heathrow to Montreal this week unaware that it was carrying at least 60 kilograms of processed radioactive uranium from the Dounreay nuclear plant.
In what appears to be the first admission that significant quantities of nuclear material are routinely transported on British passenger planes, BA said the cargo had been carried with "strict adherence to international regulations governing the safe carriage of hazardous goods".
The airline stressed that the Government knew about the shipment on flight BA 095 to Montreal on Wednesday. "It is always arranged in full consultation with the relevant authorities, which includes government agencies," a BA spokesman said.