Special Ops boarding ship to search for Nuclear Material off the NJ shore

Fox News Alert | 9/12/02 | Brytani

[Brytani]

Fox News just broke in with an alert. Special Op's are now searching a Liberian flagged ship 8 miles off the coast of NJ looking for nuclear material. More information to follow.

[Black Agnes]

They don't dispatch NEST teams + SEALS for background radiation.

[chemainus]

It is a fact the ship carried nuclear material that was "hot" . Period. The question now is WHAT KIND and HOW MUCH and WHERE IS IT NOW and WHO are the players in all directions. The signature of the material is quickly ascertained. Samples are placed in a programmed counter of various emissions and energy profiles. The big question is where the stuff is now. What were the ships stops , port of call, AFTER the Straits of Malacca and the various Muslim and Muslim/Balkan stops?

[John H K]

It is a fact the ship carried nuclear material that was "hot" . Period.

I wouldn't start betting money on that.

[John H K]

They don't dispatch NEST teams + SEALS for background radiation.
They do when they have inconclusive readings, a(justified) climate of "better safe than sorry", and an orange alert.

[kinghorse]

I am pretty sure the gov wouldn't come out and declare a nuke was found. I am not sure what they would do. The problem remains that we do not want New Yorkers going vigilante on any and every Muslim they encounter. That is the problem. And the reason we may never know all the facts in this incidences.

[Thud]

I got this from an LSU professor, but he didn't include the URL with his email:

"“U.S. Special Operations forces on Thursday joined members of the Energy Department’s Nuclear Emergency Search Team on board a Liberian-flagged container ship off the coast of New Jersey to search for nuclear material, Pentagon officials told NBC News. The search of the M/V Palermo Senator was based primarily on intelligence suggesting a ship matching its description could be carrying nuclear material or a nuclear device into the United States ... scientists said the initial readings indicated the presence of both gamma and neutron emissions, an indicator of an improvised nuclear device. The NEST squad was established in 1974 to seek out and dismantle “improvised nuclear devices,” but has been used over the years to investigate suspicious radiological sources.

The Palermo Senator is owned by the firm Reederei F. Laeisz of Hamburg, Germany, and regularly plies the route between New York and the Far East. Its last port of call was Valencia, Spain, but in the past several weeks it has stopped and picked up cargo in Bandar Abbas, Iran; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Karachi, Pakistan.”

[dighton]

Its last port of call was Valencia, Spain, but in the past several weeks it has stopped and picked up cargo in Bandar Abbas, Iran; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Karachi, Pakistan.”

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

[eastsider]

I am pretty sure the gov wouldn't come out and declare a nuke was found. I am not sure what they would do. The problem remains that we do not want New Yorkers going vigilante on any and every Muslim they encounter.

I'm glad to know the gubmint is protecting the candy-store owners : )

[fm1]

The presence of both gamma and neutron emissions is also stated in this MSNBC article.

[chemainus]

I'll bet you money on it right now , friend. I work with emitters. They are hard as hell to conceal and leave tracks from here to eternity.

[EternalHope]

From the MSNBC article you cited:
A U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told NBC News that the NEST scientists said the initial readings indicated the presence of both gamma and neutron emissions, which can be an indicator of an improvised nuclear device.

But the official stressed that there is nothing to indicate anything more than background radiation at this point.

Thanks for catching this, and posting the link to the article.

Neutron emissions would mean it was really bad stuff. A nuke, or a dirty bomb made with waste from a nuclear reactor.

But if neutron emissions were really there, and now are gone...

[Republic]

Exactly what is an NEST team, dog? Thanks.

[Straight Vermonter]

For the country, it'd still live if NYC got nuked, in fact *most* people would survive with no ill effects physically.

I remember from the cold war days that a nuke on a medium sized city would fill every hospital bed in the country with casualties. It would have the effect on our economy and way of life that WWII did on Europe. All in an instant.

[mewzilla]

Does anyone know if airspace over the area where the ship is had been restricted? I'm just wondering why some enterprising journo hasn't come back with film at 11.

[John H K]

I'll bet you money on it right now , friend. I work with emitters. They are hard as hell to conceal and leave tracks from here to eternity.

Pointless to bet because if they announce there was nothing unusual about the ship and let it go on its way, you'll simply insist they DID find something and covered it up in order not to panic the public.

[Black Agnes]

True. I was speaking of one in NYC harbor with the wind to the SE tho. It would be devastating to NYC itself but the rest of the country wouldn't suffer the physical effects. Memphis for example, would be just fine, physically...economically is another story...

[mikhailovich]

That's the question of the day. Mine is "why was this ship stopped by the Coast Guard?" Advance tip-off ????????....

[Peach]

NEST teams try to detect and dismantle nuclear devices.

[Madame Dufarge]

I actually owned one once. It's a long story.

Don't tell anyone, OK?

[Dog]

NEST Teams