Palo Verde Same Plant Sensitive Info Taken From To Iran In April
Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant west of Phoenix
UPDATE: Sensitive information was taken from this plant and brought into Iran in April of this year by an Iranian who is a naturalized US Citizen. Authorities right now say the person they are questioning is also a US citizen.
From AR article in April of this year:
Federal authorities are accusing a former engineer at Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station of illegally taking software codes to Iran and downloading details of control rooms, reactors and designs of the nation’s largest nuclear plant.
Officers arrested Mohammad “Mo” Alavi, 49, in Los Angeles this month and charged him with one count of violating a trade embargo, which prohibits Americans from exporting goods and services to Iran.
Alavi, an Iranian native who has lived in the United States as a naturalized citizen since 1976, is being held without bail in California. Alavi’s lawyer said Friday that he denies any wrongdoing.
“Mr. Alavi is a U.S. citizen. He respects the court process, and he asserts his innocence,” said Milagros Cisneros of the Federal Defender’s Office in Phoenix. She said the government’s indictment of her client is “more smoke than fire.”
Nods to our own Dr. Jerry for being so sharp on this one…
SUSPECT IS A US CITIZEN…
Jeff Hatch-Miller, a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, which oversees APS and Palo Verde, said the object was described as “a small, amateurish” pipe bomb. “The great thing is security forces ID’d it on immediate entry. It shows how they were on their toes.”
The FBI is on its way to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station west of Phoenix to begin investigating a security incident that happened earlier Friday morning.
According to an APS spokesperson, the incident involved the vehicle inspection of a contract employee at the power plant. During that thorough inspection of the worker’s truck, security guards noticed a pipe inside that looked suspicious. That led APS to declare its lowest level security alert called a “notification of unusual event”.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department bomb squad is taking a closer look at that pipe to make sure it is not dangerous. At this time no one is being allowed in or out of the facility.
Jeff Hatch-Miller, a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, which oversees APS and Palo Verde, said the object was described as “a small, amateurish” pipe bomb. “The great thing is security forces ID’d it on immediate entry. It shows how they were on their toes.”
That employee does not specifically work at Palo Verde but has been on site to do a job that the plant contracted with another company. The inspection checkpoint is at least a half mile from the actual plant.
According to APS the security incident is not a threat to the plant and not a threat to the public. Right now the plant is going through a steam generator swap out, taking a 700 ton steam generator in for replacement. That means a lot of extra workers are on site.
The plant is 40 miles west of Phoenix, and is the largest nuclear power generating facility in the country.
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Latest word is that there was a ‘amateurish’ small pipe bomb. Not much else so far. FBI is on the way.
November 2nd, 2007 at 10:52 am“That means a lot of extra workers are on site. ”
in such times (of swap) lots of extra cies enrole what we call “interim” persons who do not know the difference between eve with adam ; some incidents alike this one might happen ; but generally, if the “work” is uselly well followed, this is not too dangerous ; only the person in contact with the radioactive stuff would have to leave the place and stay away for a few months, the time he get rid, in a natural way, of it.
Well I have been staying a few years in a thermal resort place where the waters were well-known for its radioa-ctivit since the romans ; and the rate of radio-activite was sometimes above what is tolerated in a nuclear station.
But as far as people go into cure at least once a year, it was not a subject of worry.
but tired they were as leaving the place after 3 weeks of cares
November 2nd, 2007 at 11:54 amMy questions would be thus:
1. What is this persons name? Is he or she an Arab or a Muslim? At what Mosque are they attending and who is the Imam?
2. What portion of the plant does he or she work in?
3. What is their involvement in the reactor process?
4. What was their intent i.e. where was he or she going to detonate this “amateurish” explosive device?
“Amateurish” or not, an explosive device inside a nuclear power plant does not sound good.
Wasn’t it this same plant that an naturalized citizen, from Iran, took a lap top computer and stolen plant information, just last year, and took it to Iran. He was then arrested upon his return to the US, at LAX, to attend the birth of his child, with his wife who stayed on behind. (Got to get that good old American citizenship for Jr. ya know).
Time to wake up folks!
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:40 pmStarting to show up on the major outlets now. One source says it’s a white male, but with that slimeball Gadahn and JW Lindh on the dark side, this shouldn’t startle too many folks.
I’m hearing it was a pipe bomb, I also hear residue detected by the K-9’s, which may have been nothing more than whatever was in the bomb being on the guy.
Guy apparently rents an apartment in Phoenix and lives ‘out of state’….cough cough.
Usually rides a motorcycle to work — today he drove a white truck.
Reports that he tried to crash the gate are unconfirmed.
Fox is saying this event is more serious than initially believed.
Keeping fingers on local news to see if anything else is popping up.
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:12 pmaw geeeeesh…
November 2nd, 2007 at 1:37 pmThe size of the found item is not exclusionary for threat value, it could have been a ‘diversion’ to draw security for a larger threat, or action elsewhere within the compound. I’m paying attention…
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:02 pmMy question is: Does THIS qualify for treason? If not, then there is no such thing as betraying your country.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:03 pmThe bar for US citizenship is at an all time low.
I guess it never was very high to begin with. I think we need to make it much more difficult to become a US citizen.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:41 pmMaybe I’m mistaken… but this sounds an awful lot like espionage to me. So why isn’t anyone calling a spade a spade?
November 3rd, 2007 at 1:48 pm“on immediate entry”.
As opposed to delayed or postponed entry? What is it about bureaucracy that attracts and rewards dyslexics?
“immediately upon entry” is not THAT hard to say, is it?
November 4th, 2007 at 1:10 amCarl Levin and Fred Upton are trying to get a bill passed to make an Ibrahim Parlak of Harbert Mi. a citizen thus thwarting the Homeland Security from deporting him. He was charged with lying about being a member of a Turkish terrorist org. His case has been tried in the local media with such big names as Roger Ebert etc.as supporters. A concern of mine is that his biggest supporter was also an alien and an operator trainee at Cook Nuclear plant and had access to any plant operating info he wanted, including plant layout operating and emergency procedures.
If Levin and Upton are more informed and have better insight than HS, then why don’t we send them to Gitmo and pass judgement on the prisoners. Oh, yeah-and hold them responsible.
November 4th, 2007 at 1:33 pm