[ RadSafe ] Arizona nuclear plant on lockdown

[Sandy Perle]

Arizona nuclear plant on lockdown 

PHOENIX  (AP) Nov 2 - 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. 
Authorities said it didn't appear to be an act of terrorism. 

The worker was stopped and detained at the entrance of the Palo Verde 
Nuclear Generating Station, about a half mile from the containment 
domes where the plant's nuclear material is stored, plant spokesman 
Jim McDonald said. 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.

Maricopa County Sheriff's Capt. Paul Chagolla said the pipe was not 
hidden in the truck.

"There's no information to indicate that there's domestic terrorism 
at hand," Chagolla said.

In Washington, the Department of Homeland Security also said there 
was no known terrorism link, and that the FBI and local law 
enforcement were leading the investigation.

Sheriff's officials rendered the device safe and investigators were 
interviewing the man, who was originally from South Carolina, 
Chagolla said.

"Our security personnel acted cautiously and appropriately, 
demonstrating that our security process and procedures work as 
designed," Randy Edington, the chief nuclear officer for plant 
operator Arizona Public Service Co., said in a news release.

The detention was considered an "unusual event" - the lowest of four 
emergencies the plant can declare, said Jim Melfi, an inspector with 
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

There was no threat to the public and the station was operating 
normally, McDonald said.

McDonald wouldn't say which company employed the worker. He said 
everyone who has access to the plant must submit to a background 
check.

Workers must pass through two security checkpoints to get inside one 
of the plant's three containment domes, which house the radioactive 
material. One of the checkpoints includes an automated system that 
examines workers for the presence of bomb-making materials, McDonald 
said.

Palo Verde is the nation's largest nuclear power plant both in size 
and capacity. Located in Wintersburg about 50 miles west of downtown 
Phoenix, the plant supplies electricity to about 4 million customers 
in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California.

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Sander C. Perle
President
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at cox.net 

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/