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Nuclear incident response in the US
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| 27 August 2002 |
By Andy Oppenheimer
John Gordon, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), testified on June 26 at a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee that currently the US Department of Energy's nuclear terrorism response teams can respond to a potential incident within four hours, but that they need to act even more quickly. Gordon, who is to head the White House Office for Combating Terrorism, said: "Our NEST teams would respond within four hours, and our home teams would respond within two. That still may not be close enough."
Role of NEST
Nuclear Emergency Search Teams (NEST) are trained to search for, identify, and disarm lost, stolen or improvised nuclear weapons, materials, and threats covertly placed anywhere in the United States, along with various other teams that monitor, address, and analyse possible releases of radioactive material. The Energy Department has seven types of teams that respond to nuclear or radiological incidents, including teams that monitor the atmosphere for radioactivity and a radiological assistance program that works with state and local authorities. The Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force each have specially trained teams.
Since September 11, the department's Nuclear Assessment Program has investigated approximately 70 incidents involving "communicated nuclear threats and reports of illicit trafficking of nuclear materials" and has conducted a number of "special analysis reports for law enforcement and intelligence components." In January 2002 NEST began periodic searches for radiological devices in Washington DC and other major US cities.
Since 1978, the program has assessed the credibility of more than 60 nuclear extortion threats, 25 nuclear reactor threats, 20 non-nuclear extortion threats, and 650 cases involving reported or attempted illicit sale of nuclear materials. Back in 1975 a group threatened to explode a nuclear device in New York City, demanding $30 million, but failed to turn up for the dummy loot. In 1976 NEST vans circled Washington streets checking radiation levels following a tip-off that a terrorist group could mark the Bicentennial celebrations with a bang.
Operational since 1975, NEST maintains an active force of 70 responders. These responders are divided into response teams and are drawn from a pool of around 900 on-call personnel. Single deployments involve fewer than 45 people. The teams, pooled from the three Energy Department laboratories, the Nevada operations office, and three private contractors, include physicists, chemists, mathematicians, communications specialists, and technicians. The Energy Department also has a team to deal with chemical/biological incidents.
They have an array of equipment at their disposal - including a fleet of four helicopters equipped with radiological search systems, three aircraft equipped for remote sensing missions, and vans equipped with radiation emission detectors and diagnostic, disablement and damage-limitation devices. It even has its own graphics agency to disguise the vans so that they blend in with commercial traffic. Handheld nuclear detectors can be hidden in suitcases, briefcases, or backpacks and can silently alert a NEST member to the presence of a nuclear device through a signal transmitted to the member's earphone.
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