NUCLEAR WARNING: Britain now at 'significant risk' of radioactive attack from Russia or IS

A NUCLEAR weapons expert has told Express.co.uk that Britain faces a “significant threat” of radioactive attacks either from Russia or terrorists who come into possession of stolen warheads.

The Doomsday Clock, which calculates how far the world is from total destruction, is currently set at its most dangerous level since 1959 – the height of the Cold War.

A leading academic in the field of nuclear weapons, Matthew Rendall, revealed what he believes will spark the potentially apocalyptic conflict and how he thinks it will play out.

He thinks Vladimir Putin is most likely to launch a nuclear weapon at Britain by mistake after wrongly interpreting an innocent object on their radar as a Western missile.

The other likely cause of nuclear war, according to the University of Nottingham academic, would be terror groups getting their hands on the deadly weapons – which they are now more likely because Mr Putin pulled out a 16-year-old agreement with America designed to safely destroy stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium in both nations.

The snub from the Russian leader now means enough plutonium to make 17,000 nuclear weapons still has the chance to fall into the hands of terror groups such as Islamic State.

Mr Rendall told Express.co.uk what he regards as the most likely possible causes for a nuclear holocaust: “Two scenarios come to mind. The first would be if Moscow believed that it was already under nuclear attack, and struck NATO in the hope of limiting damage. 

“In 1995, Russia mistook a Norwegian research rocket for an incoming Western missile. 

“Fortunately, President Boris Yeltsin did not launch Russia's missiles in response. In a similar situation, President Putin would almost surely also sit tight, wait and see, but do we want to take that chance?

“This risk is aggravated by the fact that both Russia and the United States continue to keep large numbers of nuclear-armed missiles on a hairtrigger.

"Unfortunately, the recent downturn in relations between the two countries makes it unlikely that they will agree to reduce alert levels any time soon."

He added: “All too many seem to believe that arms control is a favour one does the other side, rather than a process undertaken in both sides' self-interest."

“Another scenario does not involve Putin at all: It is the use of stolen fissile material against Britain by terrorists, most likely in a 'dirty bomb'. 

“At the end of the Cold War, Russia and the United States co-operated in securing dangerously vulnerable Russian nuclear sites.

“Unfortunately, this co-operation too has now fallen victim to the downturn in relations.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/729403/Nuclear-war-bomb-weapon-Britain-Russia-terror-ISIS-Islamic-State-Vladimir-Putin