Huge security plan to protect virus superlab from terrorists
Mark Blunden10.12.10
Security around a “superlab” planned next door to a major London railway station will be among the tightest in the capital amid fears of “domestic extremism”.
Sensitive documents detailing protection for one of Europe's biggest bio-medical research centres, which will specialise in fighting influenza, show it includes anti-car bomb devices.
Camden council is asking for a passport or driving licence as proof of identification before showing residents planning documents for the £600 million site behind St Pancras station.
The glass, brick and metal UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation will be secured to “biosafety level three-plus”.
It will be capable of containing flu viruses, malaria and tuberculosis, plus cancer and HIV to become a “global centre of research excellence”.
Campaigners fear the site, which is also close to hundreds of homes, could pose a risk to public health if airborne viruses escape from the building, which the centre denies.
Opponents are also concerned the huge building near the British Library could become a terrorist target and the focal point for protests against Home Office-licensed animal testing.
The “security management plan”, seen by the Evening Standard, identifies crime, terrorism and “domestic extremism” as concerns. It states: “Potential security risks may arise from domestic extremism — potentially the animal rights movement.”
Other measures will include CCTV, “robust” building materials, strengthened glass and “anti-Hostile Vehicle Measures”. The eight-page document states: “This is to create a maximum stand-off in the event of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.”
It also details how the perimeter will be secured and monthly meetings will be held between the local police, Met intelligence units, a national domestic extremism team and British Library security.
One official was overheard saying the document had to be treated as if it had been “handed to the council from a foreign embassy” when shown to the public.
Campaigner Natalie Bennett said: “It is an indication that there are serious concerns from the authorities about the danger this building represents. It shows there's clearly a problem with thousands of people living so close by. Residents don't feel very confident about what's going on. There are thousands of people living on the doorstep.”
The lab is the subject of a parliamentary committee inquiry in the new year but is recommended for approval by planning officers on Thursday.
The research centre is a conglomerate of the Medical Research Council, University College London, Cancer Research UK and The Wellcome Trust and will also lead the way in HIV, heart diseases and stroke research.
About one third of the building, which is up to 154 feet high in places, will be underground.
Opponents of the scheme, including the local MP and former Labour health secretary Frank Dobson, are angry that no social housing has been included on the 3.6 acre site.
A UKCMRI spokesman said: “We will carry out research on diseases that affect people across London, the UK and the world including cancers, heart disease and stroke, infections, diseases of the immune and nervous systems and the degenerative diseases linked to ageing. We can absolutely state that there will be no military research at the institute.”
