The man who blew up a nuclear power station and disappeared

473 points by tw1st3d_m3nt4t a day ago on reddit | 19 comments

[OP] tw1st3d_m3nt4t | a day ago

In December 1982, South African Rodney Wilkinson walked four bombs into Koeberg power station – the crown jewel of the apartheid state – pulled the pins and then left on his bicycle.

theYogiB | 23 hours ago

Brilliant article. Had me hooked throughout.

bighootay | 10 hours ago

I read this in a novel--"Come on, impossible." Unreal.

MiseryIndexer | 13 hours ago

Yeah, it was excellent

Legohed | 20 hours ago

Yes, great read. Thanks

50calPeephole | 23 hours ago

Back when banned states couldnt compete in the Olympics at all.

IvyGold | 5 hours ago

It still happens. That's why you haven't seen the Russians in a bit.

Arkeros | 2 hours ago

Russian athletes have participated in every recent Olympic, just under different names. Nothing Russian TV can't change in their broadcast.

IvyGold | 2 hours ago

Yeah. Depending on the sport's federation, some are allowed to compete under a neutral flag.

The Russian flag hasn't been seen since Rio or so, I think.

Boring-Flounder-150 | 22 hours ago

Wait, he blew up a *nuclear* power station and just vanished? Like, how does that even work...?

atreyal | 21 hours ago

Bombs were on a time delay. He walked out and skipped to a different country and they blamed another group for the blast. He wasnt a suspect for years. Article is interesting should read it.

devouredwolf | 19 hours ago

Right? So many questions, if only there was a way to get informed. Ah well

Really_McNamington | 16 hours ago

Honestly, read it. It's a cracker.

Techhead7890 | 3 hours ago

To be fair, this was during construction 2 years before it was operational, so presumably before it was fuelled. It was also a week before Christmas so not many people were around, and nobody died. It was a pain to the apartheid regime and a lot of money on precision machinery to replace, but not a violent act. Thirdly, according to the article he was never suspected - they blamed militants and corporate espionage. This guy appeared to just be some contractor.