How to Track Nuclear Material Transport

by Data Line

Nuclear material doesn't magically appear at plants that make missiles and bombs. It has to be transported by truck or train. The media has seen fit to portray a totally false picture of the security surrounding the operation. Getting enriched Uranium or Plutonium is seen as marginally difficult, just force a lone semi off the road and loot it. I hope to give the true picture of the task and of the equipment.

This report has been compiled with the help (knowing and unknowing) of the US Department of Energy, the APCO Journal, and a source in FEMA.

The Locations

Oak Ridge,TN. Union Carbide runs a Uranium enrichment plant here. It has a sister complex in Paducah, KY. that makes Uranium Hexafluoride, a deadly gas that is sometimes transported on the Interstates.

Amarillo,TX. The most dangerous city on earth. A little known factory, the Pantex Company, takes the enriched fissionable materials and assembles them into warheads. The equipment is vintage 1950. Accidents are unheard of. They may happen, but the press sure never gets word of them.

Albuquerque, NM. Sandia National Labs, under contract to the Department of Energy, performs research on weapons and radioactive materials. Kirkland AFB, communications command center for the DOE is also located here.

Livermore, CA. Lawrence Livermore Lab also performs research on the more classified aspects of nuclear chemistry.

Chicago, IL. Argonne Labs research "peaceful" applications of highly radioactive metals and gases. Sure thing...

Joplin, MO. The largest contractor of freight-hauling for DOE is based in the Southwestern tip of MO. I'd like to take a tour of Tri-State Motor Transit (TSMT) sometime. I'd also like an unescorted day in the Pentagon. I have as much chance at getting either one.

The Transit Process

A surprise in store: the actual drivers are heavily armed, excellently trained DOE Special Couriers. They ride in a specially-equipped semi with 4 to 5 support vehicles to a convoy. The support staff also consists of Couriers in a variety of vehicles. Most of the time they include a Motorhome, a Suburban (armored) and possibly a station wagon or two. If a cop tries to pull over a semi, the entire convoy pulls over. A courier in the offending vehicle uses the PA to announce the nature of the convoy, and will exit the truck if requested. The driver NEVER exits.

Spotting a Convoy

The actual semis are usually unmarked (DOE-owned), or are turquoise with regular silver trailers that may bear the logo TSMT. In NO case will they bear a yellow & black "Radioactive" Placard. DOE vehicles bear a single license tag, blue on white, that starts with an "E". The semis have what appears to be a luggage rack on the top. This is an antenna. They may stop at weigh stations, but will be waved on through.

The Weapons

Couriers are trained in use of the standard issue M-16, the M-60, and the LAW rocket. They carry at least that amount of weapons with them, and possibly the new Viper Antitank weapon. Other items include gas (BZ, CS) and maybe a few goodies from the Farm... Their training in Colorado Springs takes about 3 months and covers everything from evasive driving with a 130,000 pound armored tractor-trailer to recovery of fissionable material from adversaries to emergency field evacuation and containment. Their trucks are probably the best weapons. DOE-owned vehicles, used for the most hazardous materials (transit of old warheads for reconditioning) are totally covered by a classified thickness of nickel or aluminium armor (That's right, Aluminium in an alloy form with other metals). The trailers are rigged with nozzles that will envelop a terrorist who manages to open the doors with a mountain of fast-hardening urea (insulating) foam, suffocating him and hiding the warhead/Plutonium with a thick coat of the stuff.

Forget it.

The condition of each truck on the road is updated by couriers every 15 minutes by Shortwave to the Command Post in NM. The transmissions are in encrypted digital bursts on 11.555, 7.700 and 3.335 MHz, USB. Rarely you can hear the base speak with a Courier. Intra-convoy communications are handled with low-power VHF radios on 164.375 and 164.225 MHz. They were duped by those shitheads at Motorola into buying Digital Voice protection, a scrambling system. Granted, you can't understand what they're saying (probably stuff like "Wanna eat at Denny's or go to the Truck Stop?"). Basic SIGINT still tells you that prescence of ANY transmissions means a convoy is close. Listen for what sounds like a squelch burst and a tone at the end, that's the DVP.

If a trouble signal is transmitted to the CP, a number of things happen. First, the dispatcher attempts to reach the convoy by SW to find the nature of the problem; accident, out of beer, or terrorist attack. The first response will bring out an EOD team from the nearest Army base.

Albuquerque will contact the respective State Police agency for local coordination. In case of attack, I can't really say what will happen because I don't know. Speculating, I believe the Army's response will be much greater. Instead of MP's, combat troops will be airlifted along with the Decon and Emergency Ordinance Disposal troops. State police will also flood the area and seal if off, with local units merely handling roadblocks at the perimeters. Any non-authorized (non-government) aircraft passing near the area will be either escorted out by the TAC, or be downed. This includes news media choppers. NEST (Nuclear Emergency Search Team) will be called at once to aid in locating possibly contaminated areas and assist in finding any missing fissionable material. If an intact warhead is found to be missing, a national state of emergency will be declared until the situation is resolved. This means a callup of National Guard and the Reserves, as well as placing all active military personnel on full alert. It also means that various civil rights will be curtailed. The National Emergency Command Alert Post (NECP) will become active, as well as ALL U.S. Military units.

The terrorists wouldn't have a chance in hell. Detonating a bomb would probably wipe out the entire bunch of assholes and they wouldn't have gained a thing. A large number of both real terrorists (e.g. FALN, M-19, Animal rights and splinter anti-abortion factions) and Intelligence (CIA and DOE) created groups would claim responsibility so the organizations would see how unproductive pulling such a stunt would be in the future - no exclusive media attention means no gain.

Note to any Federal agency who gets ahold of this. I want to work for DOE intelligence. All of this is put together from unclassified sources. If it's good enough to get me in trouble, wouldn't you agree I'd be good to have working for your organization? Think of this as a Resume. You know how to get ahold of me, I'm sure.