NAMIBIA: NUCLEAR SMUGGLING INCIDENT/DRILL

C O N F I D E N T I A L WINDHOEK 000030

SIPDIS

FOR STATE ISN/CTR AND PM/ISO/PMAT (24/7)
FOR DS/IP/SPC/WMD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2019
TAGS: KNNP MNUC PARM KCRM PTER PREL ASEC WA
SUBJECT: NAMIBIA: NUCLEAR SMUGGLING INCIDENT/DRILL

REF: A. 2007 STATE 162091

B. PELLETREAU/MATHIEU EMAIL JAN. 30 2009

Classified By: Ambassador G. Dennise Mathieu for reason 1.4 (b) and (d)

- - - -
Summary
- - - -


1. (C) At the request of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC),Post wishes to alert the Department and Washington
agencies -- per reftel -- that it has received a report
indicating an unannounced (and as yet unconfirmed) drill
designed to simulate the discovery of illicit radiological
material and plans to make a dirty bomb. Post was not/not
contacted by Namibian authorities. This report was sent to
post by the Department of State's Namibia desk officer, who
had been notified by the NRC. The NRC received a call on
January 29 from a company that claimed it had been notified
of the discovery of Cesium 137 in Namibia and the plans for a
dirty bomb. The caller to the NRC later stated the incident
was a drill. Post has been unable to confirm any of the
information regarding the possible incident/drill. We are
continuing to investigate. End Summary.

- - - - - - - - - - - -
Details of the incident
- - - - - - - - - - - -


2. (C) On January 30, Post was informed by the State
Department's Namibia desk officer that, on January 29 at
2:00pm EST, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) hotline
received a call from Chemtrek, a hazmat and radiological
clean up company that operates in the United States. The
Chemtrek office was on the line with a Namibian fire
safety/police officer calling from Namibia. The Namibian,
Turk Cloete, said there had been a car accident in Vandyke
and that field officers had discovered a radiological
substance (Cesium 137) and plans to build a "dirty bomb" in
the vehicle. The Namibian used the term "dirty bomb."
Chemtrek decided to call the NRC because of the dirty bomb
reference.


3. (C) The NRC suggested Mr. Cloete contact Axel Tibinyane in
the Namibian Ministry of Health's Radiation Protection
Service Group. As the NRC was preparing to alert the
inter-agency, Mr. Cloete said he had just been informed that
the incident was a drill and that he should not have called
the NRC. He apologized profusely and hung up. NRC decided
to stand down on the inter-agency alert, but called the State
Department's Namibia desk officer to ensure State was
informed.

- - - - - - - - - -
Incident Follow-up
- - - - - - - - - -


4. (C) On January 30, Emboff contacted Mr. Tibinyane in the
Namibian Ministry of Health to try to learn additional
details. Tibinyane told us that he was unaware of the
alleged exercise, but that he would undertake an
investigation to determine what may have occurred. He was
not familiar with Mr. Cloete or Chemtrek. He noted that
similar drills are routinely conducted in Namibia but in
coordination with the IAEA, and that his office is normally
involved when a drill is conducted.


5. (C) Separately, Post's RSO reached out to a senior police
Commissioner, who said neither he nor his staff had received
any reports of a radiological detection drill. The police
are not familiar with a town called Vandyke, the location
cited in the alleged drill.


6. (C) Post will continue to investigate the incident.
Action officer at post for handling this incident is Econoff
Frank DeParis, reachable via phone at 261 61 295-8549 or
email at deparisf(at)state.gov.
MATHIEU