Nuke threat to Olympics uncovered

New Zealand police have uncovered a possible plot to blow up a nuclear reactor in Sydney during next month's Olympic Games, a police spokesman said on Saturday.

Detective superintendent Bill Bishop, New Zealand's National Crime manager, said Australian police had been informed and the two forces were working together on the case involving a group of Afghan refugees who had suspicious material in their possession.

"That material included a map of Sydney highlighting a nuclear reactor and highlighting entrance and exit routes," Bishop told New Zealand Radio.

In Sydney, a New South Wales police spokesman said they had been briefed by New Zealand on the potential threat to the Lucas Heights nuclear research reactor in the city's outer suburbs. Sydney has a population of about 4.5 million which could swell by another million people during the games.

"As to normal protocols, New Zealand police have fully briefed their NSW counterparts on their findings," a Sydney police spokesman told Reuters.