Why is ammonium nitrate regarded as “security sensitive”?
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) is currently conducting a national review of hazardous materials as part of the national counter-terrorism strategy. COAG identified ammonium nitrate as a substance that needed to be controlled because it is a common ingredient of explosives and it has a history of use by terrorists. In Australia, there have also been recent incidents where ammonium nitrate has been misused. Ammonium nitrate was used in a “demonstration” explosion in Tasmania in August 2003 and was used to explode a vehicle in New South Wales in January 2004.
