FOR 60 years the wreck of the Richard Montgomery and its lethal cargo of munitions has been settling into the silt of the Thames estuary in south-east England. The cargo is unstable and explosive. If one bomb goes off, it could easily set off the world鈥檚 biggest non-nuclear explosion 鈥� excepting volcanic eruptions 鈥� according to a four-year-old risk assessment published this week (see 鈥淓xplosive wreck鈥�).
Consultants began the risk assessment in 1999. Two years later, they reported that the best options were to remove the explosives or build earthworks to contain any blast. Above all, they said, 鈥渄oing nothing鈥� was not an option as the deteriorating wreck could easily collapse and set off an explosion.
But for three years nothing is just what the government has done. In August last year, New 杏吧原创 revealed the shelved report鈥檚 key conclusion. This seems to have stirred the government into belated action, and on 15 December it asked the same consultants to update their report.
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They will deliver their findings in April, just before the likely date for a general election. By the time the new government has given the report its urgent contemplation, this summer鈥檚 diving season will be over. So until the summer of 2006 鈥� at the earliest 鈥� the government can practise what it鈥檚 best at: doing nothing. People living by the Thames estuary had better keep their fingers crossed.