Security Lockdown at Arizona Nuclear Facility
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Dave Schuler | Friday, November 2, 2007 |
A contract worker at the nation’s largest nuclear plant has been detained:
PHOENIX – Security officials at the nation’s largest nuclear power plant detained a contract worker with a small explosive device in the back of his pickup truck Friday, authorities said.
The worker was stopped and detained at the entrance of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, said U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks. Security officials then put the nuclear station on lockdown, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving the facility.
Authorities described the device as a small capped pipe that contained suspicious residue.
Capt. Paul Chagolla with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said sheriff’s officials rendered the device safe and that investigators were interviewing the worker.
Should we be encouraged or discouraged by events of this sort? In the discouraging column put that the guy had a pipe bomb in the back of his pickup truck and he worked at a nuclear power plant. In the encouraging column put that the device was identified and the guy detained.
About the Author: Over the years Dave Schuler has worked as a martial arts instructor, a handyman, a musician, a cook, and a translator. He's owned his own company for the last thirty years and has a post-graduate degree in his field. He comes from a family of politicians, teachers, and vaudeville entertainers. All-in-all a pretty good preparation for blogging.
He has contributed to OTB since November 2006 but mostly writes at his own blog, The Glittering Eye.
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A small capped pipe with suspicious residue could be a bottle rocket launcher.
also in the discouraging column, you can put that this suspect was likely an illegal immigrant given the proximity of Palo Verde to our porous border with Mexico.
Hmm. A pipe bomb poses little threat to a nuclear reactor.
I'd say we should be encouraged.
The discouraging thing is that this "non-event" made national news. Hurd is not an illegal or a terrorist. Anyone could have tossed a piece of junk into the back of his truck and given local authorities the chance to beat their chests and illustrate how they are keeping us safe. It must have been a slow news day.
