Red Mercury
Wednesday, July 26, 2006 at 09:44AM 
On the 28th November 1987, the Helderberg, a South African Airways Boeing 747-244B Combi en-route to Johannesburg from Taipei, crashed into the Indian Ocean about 134 nautical miles north- east of Plaisance Airport, Mauritius. There were no survivors. It took some time to find the wreckage, which was in deep water, and even longer to recover the relevant flight and voice recording devices. Critical recordings of communications between the aircraft and ground control in Johannesburg (the so-called ZUR tape) were found to be missing, complicating the investigation into the accident.
An investigation into the crash was led by Judge Margo and the findings were that:
"The accident allowed an uncontrolled fire in the forward right pallet on the main deck cargo compartment. The aircraft crashed into the sea at high speed following a loss of control consequent on the fire."
"The substance involved in the combustion included plastic and cardboard packing material, but the actual source of ignition cannot be determined. There was no connection between the accident and the omission of Station ZUR to communicate with the Helderberg at the pre-arranged time. Nor is there any significance in the fact that the ZUR tape covering the time was mislaid or wiped out by later use. The board was unable to find or conclude that fireworks or any other illegal cargo were carried in the aircraft."
Some time after the crash, rumours began to circulate about the possible presence of a substance called "red mercury" being aboard the aircraft. This would have been illegal and in contravention of both international and South African passenger flight rules. The substance was linked to South Africa's atomic bomb programme. As is to be expected, government and other sources rubbished the idea.
Two things brought the above to mind, the first being the acquittal yesterday of City banker Dominic Martins, 45, businessman Abdurahman Kanyare, 53, and Roque Fernandes, 44, a security guard at Coutts, on charges of conspiring to fund terrorism and conspiring to possess an article for terrorist purposes. The men spent two years on remand after they were arrested following a sting operation involving News of the World journalist Mazher Mahmood. The charge alleged that they were trying to buy a kilogram of "red mercury".
So what is red mercury, and does it really exist?
The answer is not so clear. An article in About.com by Anne Marie Helmenstine provides five different instances of the use of the term, including something called the Russium tritium fusion bomb. The "ballotechnic mercury compound" (item 4, below) is the substance alleged by some to have been aboard the Helderberg.
Not being a chemist, I will provide the definitions more or less verbatim (I have corrected a few minor typographical errors).
- Cinnabar/Vermillion
Cinnabar is naturally-occurring mercuric sulfide (HgS), while vermillion is the name given to the red pigment derived from either natural or manufactured cinnabar. - Mercury (II) Iodide
The alpha crystalline form of mercury (II) iodide is called 'red mercury', which changes to the yellow beta form at 127°C. - Any Red-Colored Mercury Compound Originating in Russia
as in the cold war definition of 'Red'. I doubt anyone is using 'red mercury' in this manner, but it's a possible interpretation. - A Ballotechnic Mercury Compound
Presumably red in color. Ballotechnics are substances which react very energetically in response to high-pressure shock compression. Google's Sci.Chem group has had a lively ongoing discussion about the possibility of an explosive form of mercury antimony oxide. According to some reports, red mercury is a cherry red semi-liquid which is produced by irradiating elemental mercury with mercury antimony oxide in a Russian nuclear reactor. Some people think that red mercury is so explosive that it can be used to trigger a fusion reaction in tritium or deuterium-tritium mixture. Pure fusion devices don't require fissionable material, so it's easier to get the materials needed to make one and easier to transport said materials from one place to another. Other reports refer to a documentary in which it was possible to read a report on Hg2Sb207, in which the compound had a density of 20.20 Kg/dm3 (!). Personally, I find it plausible that mercury antimony oxide, as a low density (nonradioactive?) powder, may be of interest as a ballotechnic material. The high-density material seems unlikely. It would also seem unreasonably dangerous (to the maker) to use a ballotechnic material in a fusion device. One intriguing source mentions a liquid explosive, HgSbO, made by Du Pont laboratories and listed in the international chemical register as number 20720-76-7.
- A Military Code Name for a New Nuclear Material
As I understand it, this definition originates from the extraordinarily high prices commanded and paid for a substance called 'red mercury', which was manufactured in Russia. The price ($200-300K per kilogram) and trade restrictions were consistent with a nuclear material as opposed to cinnabar.
The second issue which brought Red Mercury to mind was the decision by the Mbeki government to consider reopening the case into the Helderberg disaster, which many (once rumours of Red Mercury started to circulate), regarded as a coverup. What had emerged from the initial investigation is that the temperature of the fire was in excess of 1000 degrees - a lot hotter than the plastic and cardboard packing material listed by Margo would burn at. It also emerged that it was not uncommon for dangerous and prohibited goods, usually destined for Armscor, to find their way aboard South African Airways aircraft. Johanna Uys, the wife of Helderberg captain Dawie Uys said that she knew of one incident where her husband was upset because he had to fly with ammunition aboard the plane. The station master of SAA in London instructed him to fly. He was so scared about this that he posted the cargo list to his home address before the flight. Another ex-SAA pilot, Jan Hendrick De Wet Lategan, confirmed that it is quite possible to transport dangerous cargo without the pilot even knowing about it.
A report in The Namibian alleges that Armscor's desperation to help sustain apartheid led to the Helderberg air disaster. This claim is based on evidence provided by expert witness David Klatzow to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1998. According to Klatzow, rocket fuel (ammonium perchlorate) carried illegally by the Helderberg for Armscor spontaneously ignited, causing the aircraft to crash.
One of the issues that rekindled interest in the issue were investigations into the activities of Dr Wouter Basson and information gleaned from his testimony to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
The preliminary report of the Scorpions says that:
During the investigations into the activities of Dr Wouter Basson, certain information was received about the crash. This was followed up without any success. It should be mentioned that during Dr Basson's trial, his defence council referred to the fire on board the Helderberg as a classic " chemical fire".
This is in contradiction with the finding of the board, which stated that the combustion included plastic and cardboard packing material. No mention was made of chemical material.
There are, nevertheless, a number of unanswered questions, one being the claim that Uys refused to take off from Taipei because he was not happy with the contents listed on the cargo manifest. Shades of London, some time earlier. There is also the allegation there was a fire early in the flight. Normal procedure would have been to land and ensure that it was out and the aircraft safe. The Helderberg flew on... perhaps on the orders of SAA, who had a cosy relationship with Armscor and who would not have wanted foreign busybodies looking in the Helderberg hold. This, more than likely, is the reasons for the 'missing' (excised?) data on the ZUR tape.
What is also interesting is the evidence gathered by the Scorpions as a preliminary to the consideration about reopening the case. Investigators flew to the United States, where they were helped by the FBI's Engineering Research Facility to recreate information from the water damaged Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). Amongst the date recovered was this snippet of conversation.
12.1 " here's the problem "
12.2 " Boy George is abroad Holy cow"
12.3 " What did you say"
12.4 " A bomb is"
12.5 " Real big problem yeah, big problem very difficult"
12.6 " Kaptein iets om to drink No thanks, no thanks"
12.7 " We fly in their bomb"
The investigators came to the conclusion that the term "Boy George" was meaningless, and that "there is also no certainty as to who had uttered the words or in what context."
It is nevertheless suprising that the ANC government decided in October 2002 not to reopen the case, incensing a good number of people who felt that it was important for them to do so. It is especially interesting, given the ANC's penchant for uncovering every misdeed of their former apartheid masters to draw attention away from their own sleazy behaviour.
Thing is... Armscor is still around, but now with fat-cat managers closely tied to the country's political elite. Armscor subsidiaries including Denel have developed a number of top weapons and weapon systems which bring in foreign exchange. Digging too deep into dubious apartheid history might not be politically expedient right at the moment.
The irony bites. The ANC finding itself in a position where it prefers not to investigate the enemy for fear of upsetting the cosy financial status of its top membership. Such is the real world of politics.
And I am no closer to knowing what this stuff Red Mercury is, what it does or even if it exists. The News of The World claims that it is "a deadly substance developed by cold war Russian scientists for making briefcase nuclear bombs". However, the Guardian, says it was invented by Soviet intelligence for cold war sting operations.
Supplementary info: Aviation Safety Network |:| Helderberg evidence forged?
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