SECRET TEAM HUNTS DIRTY' NUKE BOMBS

NEW YORK POST ^ | March 11, 2002 | MEGAN TURNER

[kattracks]

March 11, 2002 -- A covert government agency has been secretly scouring the country for a nuclear "dirty bomb" ever since the United States was warned Osama bin Laden might have one, according to a new report.

In January, the Bush administration quietly ordered the Nuclear Emergency Support Team to launch searches of Washington and other large American cities chosen at random by the FBI, said Time magazine.

[Kerensky]

Just think of all the foreign shipping containers on railways and highways and you have an idea of the search area.

[patriciaruth]

Glad they're out there trying, but you got any good news, kattracks?

[xm177e2]

A dirty bomb really isn't a big deal at all. There already exists a lot of background radiation, so a little more wouldn't really hurt. And to pick up the dirty pieces, you just have to walk around with a geiger counter, some tweezers, and a bag.

[maquiladora]

The Secret Bomb Squad

BY DOUGLAS WALLER

Saturday, Mar. 09, 2002
When the Bush administration was warned after Sept. 11 that Osama bin Laden might have some type of nuclear device, it knew where to turn for help: the Nuclear Emergency Support Team, a secretive unit within the Department of Energy. Last January the Administration quietly ordered NEST to launch periodic searches for a "dirty bomb" in Washington and other large U.S. cities. Administration officials tell Time that the NEST teams aren't dispatched to urban areas because of any specific threat received. Instead, almost every week the FBI randomly selects several cities for visits by NEST, which comprises some 300 scientists and technicians from Energy and nuclear-weapons laboratories trained in finding and dismantling terrorist nuclear devices.

A team of six or fewer NEST scientists covertly prowls areas, such as docks in a coastal town, that local authorities consider likeliest to have hidden contraband. Some NEST agents drive in unmarked vans packed with sophisticated gamma and neutron detectors that sniff for radiation emissions. Others travel on foot with the detectors concealed in briefcases, backpacks or even beer coolers. NEST was in Salt Lake last month deploying its equipment at the Olympics.

Explosive-ordnance-disposal experts with the Joint Special Operations Command are on call to fly in and assist the scientists in taking apart anything they find, but so far, NEST has turned up nothing in the searches. Administration officials admit that, just like putting sky marshals on airliners to foil potential hijackers, sending the NEST teams out is a shot in the dark. "But it's better than having them sitting at home doing nothing," says one.

From 'Time'.

[Lion's Cub]

I'll bet we don't search diplomats...

It/they probably came in before 9/11 anyway.

[American in Israel]

I just heard via the grapevine that there is a nuke threat in DC. Heard of evacuations. Is there anything to this?

[John H K]

Umm, no. I'm going to the Library of Congress today, I'll let you know if DC is unusually deserted :-)

[snippy_about_it]

bttt

[ipfreely]

Well, if the team is "secret" then why is it in the news? That is one problem I have with our intelligence agencies. They seem to love to make a difficult job impossible by broadcasting it to the world. What drives them to disclose this type of information so quickly and freely?

[ninonitti]

"But it's better than having them sitting at home doing nothing,"

Why can't they sit around doing nothing? Isn't that what Immigration and Customs do?

[angkor]

I just heard via the grapevine that there is a nuke threat in DC. Heard of evacuations.

At the time you posted this, it was 6:38 AM Monday morning. Who would be evacuated at that hour?

[johnny7]

Yeah... don't live east of NYC.

You won't see it and you won't smell it.

The Everglades would be a good spot to hang out.

[RFP]

I just hope they don't treat this like SETI and give up after a few years 'cause they didn't find anything. To be effective, it must be a continuous never-ending effort.

[darth]

I just decided to start carrying my garage sale geiger counter around in my truck. Anybody else out there own a radiation monitoring device? Nukes of any sort are hard to store or move without betraying their presence.

[hang 'em]

I hate to share my fear with you all, but the material is already here in certain hospitals, food irradiation facilities, nuclear reactor spent fuel storage sites, and other research facilities. Security is pitiful to non existent.

[FreedomPoster]

Anybody else out there own a radiation monitoring device?

No, but I did pick up some KI.

[meatloaf]

Used to be (and may still be) that medical labs routinely flushed stuff down drains that if released by a nuclear power plant would result in fines.

[RetiredArmy]

Well, apparently it is not a "secret team' any longer.