July 31 - OAK RIDGE, TN Around 4:30 a.m., the security force at nuclear weapons plant Y-12 responded to a sensor on the PIDAS (perimeter intrusion detection and assessment system) that indicated an unauthorized entry into the so-called Protected Area, where work on nuclear warheads takes place.
As it turned out, it was not a terrorist attack, nor was the alarm tripped by a wayward deer or other critter. Instead, three aging peaceniks were hanging banners, splashing building with what they claimed was blood, and painting messages on the plant's storage facility, a $549 million fortress which contains the nation's primary supply of bomb-grade uranium.
Confronted by armed guards, the anti-nukes protesters - Megan Rice, an 82-year-old nun; Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, a housepainter and military veteran; and Michael Walli, 63, a gardener and Roman Catholic layman - began reading a prepared statement about their beliefs and opposition to nuclear weapons.
Comment
Normally I'd include some analysis here but the highly compartmented nature of nuclear security constrains me to repeating what is already in the media and the public domain. Needless to say these idiots took their lives in their hands and are alive today only because of a miracle of God.
These protestors are fools for two reasons: A) they were willing to risk their lives going up against the most benevolent superpower in the history of the world - for all its power the United States does not practice colonialism or even gunboat diplomacy; and B) even if they had died in the course of their actions would they have made the world one iota more safe a place?
If the anti-nuke crowd wants to impress me, I suggest they try to focus their operations against the real nuclear threat in this world: Iran. If they just want to make a point about nuclear safety, perhaps they could visit the nuclear storage facilities of the countries of the former Soviet Union. Or maybe a trip over to North Korea to attempt their little publicity stunt at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, or perhaps the Chungjinsi military base and nuclear fuel storage site.
Step Aside, Amateurs:
The first time Scott Lunsford offered to hack into a nuclear power station, he was told it would be impossible. There was no way, the plant's owners claimed, that their critical components could be accessed from the Internet. Lunsford, a researcher for IBM's Internet Security Systems, found otherwise.
"It turned out to be one of the easiest penetration tests I'd ever done," he says. "By the first day, we had penetrated the network. Within a week, we were controlling a nuclear power plant. I thought, 'Gosh. This is a big problem.'"
Read the rest of it HERE
What is the plant in the picture? Looks like Hope Creek?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's always been the easy route to protest the Western Democracies and the US especially. Little chance one would disappear or get get anything other than a slap on the wrist. So it makes them "feel good" that they "made the world safe for children and other living things" while there are virtually no consequences. I have a story about these people from my days as a consultant in the nuclear business, but it's long enough that it needs to go on my blog rather than in a comment.
Assholes SHOULD have activated a camera gun that turned them into cat food about 60 seconds before the rapid response unit turned up do do the same job, should the automatics have failed.
ReplyDeleteThose systems having been disabled- to apease your political officers- they should now be facing treason charges.
In the mongbat world that the USA has been dragged down to- they will probably get a friggin' medal...