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Uranium found in soldier's room at Sydney's Holsworthy barracks

Military personnel have removed "potentially hazardous" uranium discovered after a raid on a soldier's bedroom in Sydney, but Defence is declining to confirm other details of the recent incident at Holsworthy Barracks.

The ABC can reveal a "small amount" of uranium ore and a Geiger counter were secured and contained by members of the Special Operations Engineer Regiment (SOER), before being taken away from the army base.

Sappers from the SOER often specialise and train in counter-chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives (CBRNE) response activity.

Army sources have confirmed the radiological material was purchased by the defence force member legally online, but it's unclear whether he will face disciplinary action for storing the substance inside military accommodation quarters.

The soldier who bought the uranium and Geiger counter is believed to be a member of a Signals Squadron, with other ADF personnel at Holsworthy now jokingly dubbing him "Uranium Sig".

An army figure based at Holsworthy, who spoke to the ABC on the condition of anonymity, said it was strange that police officers who also patrol the Sydney military base were not involved in the emergency response.

"No-one really knows why the uranium was purchased or where it came from, but it's certainly caused a bit of a stir on base," the soldier said.

In a statement, defence confirmed it had "secured, contained and removed potentially hazardous material from Holsworthy Barracks", and insisted "the material is not related to army equipment or activities".

Australia's only nuclear reactor, located in the southern Sydney suburb of Lucas Heights, is less than a 20-minute drive from Holsworthy Barracks.

Already, the incident has prompted satirical memes featuring the so-called "Uranium Sig", which have been published on unofficial ADF web pages.

Scathach posted:

Mescal posted:

gang tag please!

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