NEST scientist Jacqueline Brandon displays radiation detection equipment inside one of NEST’s helicopters. “hen I found out as a scientist I get to fly in a helicopter and do real national security missions, I was like sign me up right away,” she says.
“We don’t provide the details but I would say on a weekly basis there’s either an unknown event that triggers the deployment of a NEST team or a question from a local responder,” she says.
Smith says nuclear materials are more a part of daily life than most people may realize. They’re used in oil and gas drilling, and in a lot of medical applications. Sometimes people are even injected with radioactive dye to aid with medical imaging.
In fact, somebody with radioactive dye in their body caused a recent NEST response. A team was called out after local police found a radioactive puddle in a fast food parking lot somewhere in America.
Smith says they quickly identified the source. “If somebody doesn’t use a public restroom and happens to alleviate their need in a parking lot, then that can cause a troubled signature if there is indeed an isotope, a medical isotope involved,” she says.
Of course NEST prepares for far worse. Smith is less open about those dark scenarios, but she says, “the fact that people understand that NEST exists…is important to help people sleep at night.”
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Publish date : 2024-10-28 23:31:00
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