The National Nuclear Security Administration,or NNSA,a US Department of Energy agency,is actively preparing for an emergency such as a low level nuclear or radiological attack by terrorists,a so-called dirty bomb,on major urban areas.Special response teams are being trained and equipped for such an eventuality.More obviously,low-flying helicopters have been repeatedly buzzing major urban areas within the past year as they survey background radiation for the Nuclear Emergency Support Team,NEST,a collaboration of NNSA and the Department of Homeland Security.
So that's what it was doing.I observed such a civilian helicopter flying back and forth at a low altitude in the greater Washington,DC area one morning recently.It certainly struck me as peculiar,if not alarming.The twin engine helicopters may fly a grid pattern at an altitude of 300 feet and can cover dozens of square miles for the intensive surveys.
The purpose of the surveys is to improve aerial radiation measurement in order to swiftly detect an incident's exact parameters and respond to it
.A certain amount of radiation occurs naturally or in the course of daily business in urban areas-even in asphalt roadbeds-and in order to find a nuclear debris field,you need to know the radiological lay of the land so you can indentify any anomalies.
Besides Metropolitan Washington,DC,surveys have also been done in the San Francisco Bay Area,the Puget Sound area in Washington state,and the Chicagoland area.
The NNSA also secures National Laboratories where nuclear research is conducted,and transports nuclear materials by road in heavily armed truck convoys.
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