A nuclear reactor in Australia may have been a terrorist target, according to police in Sydney. Detectives believe eight men arrested last week in the nation’s largest anti-terrorist operation probably considered a strike on the Lucas Heights site in a suburb of the city.

A police court document outlines how the suspects bought the same type of chemicals that were used in the London transport attacks, and had bomb-making instructions and videos about Jihad, or holy war. In total 18 people were arrested in last week’s swoop in Sydney and Melbourne, including a Muslim cleric thought to be the spiritual leader of the group. It is reported that three of the men were intercepted near Lucas Heights last year, and that a security lock had been cut. Australia is a close ally of the US with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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