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Nuke Worker Didn't Know He Had Pipe Bomb

Arizona power plant back to normal after lockdown

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 3, 2007 8:10 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Roger W. Hurd, a nuclear plant engineer detained yesterday after a pipe bomb was found in the bed of his truck, told Arizona police that he doesn't know how the 6-inch-long device got there. The discovery of the bomb sparked a lockdown of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the largest such facility in the US, reports the Arizona Republic.

Hurd, a 61-year-old contract worker who said he usually drives a motorcycle to work, was stopped at the first of many checkpoints, indicating that plant security "worked the way it should have worked," according to a plant officer. The device would have affected a 20-foot radius, and authorities see no indication that terrorism is involved. Such low-level threat events are said to occur "every few days" at power plants across the country.

The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station as seen from the main road two miles from the main entrance after a contract employee attempting to enter the facility was caught at a security checkpoint with an explosive device causing a lockdown of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Friday, Nov. 2,...
The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station as seen from the main road two miles from the main entrance after a contract employee attempting to enter the facility was caught at a security checkpoint with...   (Associated Press)
John Gaffney, director of radiation protection for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, talks about the removal and replacement of the steam generators inside the Unit 3 building of the plant Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007, in Wintersburg, Ariz. The Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station was in lockdown after a contract...
John Gaffney, director of radiation protection for the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, talks about the removal and replacement of the steam generators inside the Unit 3 building of the plant Wednesday,...   (Associated Press)
One of the three units of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station shown here Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 in Wintersburg, Ariz. A contract employee attempting to enter the facility was caught at a security checkpoint with an explosive device causing a lockdown of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station Friday,...
One of the three units of the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station shown here Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 in Wintersburg, Ariz. A contract employee attempting to enter the facility was caught at a security...   (Associated Press)
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Plant back to normal after lockdown
Reuters

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