No Subject

["Somerville, Mark" <MOS3@PGE.COM>]

Here's another example of Mom Nature acting up again.



Let's get the Mother's for Peace and the Coalition for Peace, Justice, and

Butterflies to immediately protest clay.







Tiles suspected in ship radiation alert 

 

Clay from Spain believed responsible for elevated reading 

 



NBC, MSNBC AND NEWS SERVICES 

 

Sept. 12 - Clay tiles from Spain are believed to be the source of elevated

radiation levels detected on a Liberian-flagged container ship that has been

detained off the coast of New Jersey for several days, defense officials

told NBC News on Friday. 



       

 Clay tiles are known to emit low levels of radiation. 



         WHILE INDICATING that a final determination had not yet been made,

the officials, who spoke with NBC News on condition of anonymity, said it

appeared to be attributable to 15 containers of the tiles, which are known

to emit low levels of radiation.

       Special Operations forces dispatched to the M/V Palermo Senator were

redeploying, the officials said, but it was unclear if the vessel had been

cleared to return to port.   

 The container ship M/V Palermo Senator, shown in a photo from the Web site

of the Hamburg, Germany, shipping company that owns the vessel.

          Pentagon officials told NBC News on Thursday that the vessel,

which arrived in New York Harbor late Monday, was one of five searched upon

arrival based on intelligence indicating that terrorists may be trying to

bring nuclear material or a nuclear device into the United States.

       After Coast Guard inspectors found unspecified "paperwork problems"

and reported hearing some suspicious sounds in some of the vessel's cargo

holds, it was ordered to Port Newark/Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New Jersey

for further checks.   

 

           There, tests by Energy Department inspectors produced

contradictory results, with one showing elevated radiation levels and

another indicating normal levels. 

       The ship was ordered back to sea Wednesday for a definitive

determination on whether any radioactive material was on board.

       It was then boarded by members of the Energy Department's Nuclear

Emergency Search Team and Special Operations forces with specialized

equipment capable of examining the contents of the ship's 655 containers

without opening them.   

 Advertisement

  

  







         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 stopped and picked up cargo in a number of ports, including Bandar

Abbas, Iran; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Karachi, Pakistan. 

       

       MSNBC.com's Mike Brunker; NBC's Tammy Kupperman, Jim Miklaszewski and

Robert Windrem; and The Associated Press contributed to this report.  



Mark O. Somerville

Certified Health Physicist

Registered Environmental Assessor

Diablo Canyon Power Plant

(805) 545-4007

mailto: mos3@pge.com





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