Posted on 04/04/2002 5:59:11 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
A diagram of a New Jersey nuclear power plant was discovered by U.S. forces scouring al Qaeda caves in Afghanistan, a New Jersey state assemblyman says he was told by an unnamed military official this week.
Assemblyman Gary Guear made the claim to the New York Daily News, which reported Thursday that the diagram included floor plans for the Lower Alloways Creek Township nuclear power plant in Salem County, N.J.
However, security officials at the plant and a National Guard source familiar with the matter disputed the claim, saying no "specific plans" were found.
Still, Guear insisted late Wednesday that a military official told him about the al Qaeda nuke diagram during a briefing prior to a security tour of the plant Tuesday. Guear declined to name the source.
"We were supplied with the information, and it is our belief it did happen," he told the News. "What also has happened is some backpedaling by the military official."
The state assemblyman said he was later able to confirm the report with "sources I deem reliable."
"It convinced me that what we were originally told was true," he said.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/658618/posts
See posts 14-17.
New Jersey lawmaker maintained last night that military officials told him a detailed diagram of a South Jersey nuclear power plant was found in an Al Qaeda cave in Afghanistan.
Assemblyman Gary Guear (D-Hamilton) said he was told U.S. troops found "no plans for an attack or an invasion or anything like that... just the layout" of the plant in Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County.
Security officials at the plant, which is operated by PSEG Nuclear, and a National Guard source familiar with the matter denied any specific plans were found.
PSEG officials added that federal authorities never told them of such a find.
But Guear insisted last night that a military official he declined to name spilled the beans during a briefing before a security tour of the plant Tuesday.
"We were supplied with the information, and it is our belief it did happen," Guear said. "What also has happened is some backpedaling by the military official."
Guear said he subsequently "got information from sources I deem reliable" to confirm the diagram story.
"It convinced me that what we were originally told was true," he said, but he declined to say from where the information came.
Guear, a member of the state anti-terrorism committee, said he was never told exactly when and where the diagram was found.
Leo Standora
AsmGuear@njleg.org
Can anyone get one for the reporter "Leo Standora?" Thx.
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