Media beat-up about fertiliser too old to detonate gives the possible “blowing up of a synagogue” little credibility except to make a false case for the uniparty’s hate speech laws.
Director general of Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Mike Burgess would not be drawn on questions from Senator Gerard Rennick about ammonium nitrate fertiliser recently found in a caravan in Sydney and if it was intended to be used as a bomb.
While this general fertiliser is used in mines for explosive the fact it is 40 years old as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald gave the media beat-up little credibility. No detonators were found and being so old and hygroscopic the chemical’s explosive ability was around nil according to chemical engineer Alexander Stewart.
“Ammonium nitrate is almost impossible to detonate by itself, so it is very safe to store, and it is very hygroscopic,” Mr Stewart said.
“The mixture of NH4NO3 and fuel is very difficult to detonate, and therefore it can be safely pumped as a slurry and transported in drums or even in tanker truckloads.
“It is the main explosive used in the open-cut coal mines of the Hunter Valley.”
