ABSTRACT

Recently declassified material and other information that has never before appeared in the public domain allow the authors to explain some of the workings of the Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST)—often one of the first units to respond whenever there is a nuclear incident, whether it involves a nuclear reactor or a nuclear weapon. Long the subject of mystique, NEST is often depicted on screen as a secretive government unit with highly specialized capabilities and harrowing missions. The reality is at once more mundane and more remarkable. Formed in the 1970s in response to a spate of nuclear blackmail attempts, NEST has been at the center of every major nuclear event from the accident at Three Mile Island to the disaster at Fukushima. Other operations, unknown to the public, are described here for perhaps the first time. Historical accounts provide a glimpse into the breadth of the organization’s missions, from neutralizing terrorist nuclear devices to responding to nuclear reactor accidents. The diversity of NEST’s missions and the uniqueness of its scientific capabilities set the unit apart as a national asset.

摘要

最近解密的材料和其他以前从未出现在公共领域的信息使作者能够解释核应急支持小组 (NEST) 的一些工作——通常是发生核事故时第一批做出反应的单位之一，无论是它涉及核反应堆或核武器。长期以来，NEST 一直是神秘的主题，在屏幕上经常被描绘成一个秘密的政府单位，具有高度专业化的能力和令人痛苦的任务。现实既平凡又非凡。NEST 成立于 1970 年代，是为了应对一连串的核勒索企图，从三哩岛事故到福岛灾难，NEST 一直处于每一次重大核事件的中心。其他不为公众所知的操作可能是第一次在这里描述。历史记录让我们得以一窥该组织使命的广度，从摧毁恐怖分子的核装置到应对核反应堆事故。NEST 任务的多样性及其科学能力的独特性使该单位成为一项国家资产。