RDIOLOGICAL THREATSU.S. Army Taps INL’s Nuclear Expertise, Capabilities to Strengthen Radiological Response and Readiness
The mission of the U.S. Army’s Nuclear Disablement Team (NDT) is to disable potential enemies’nuclear capabilities. INL’s experts help train NDT team members for that mission.
It’s Tuesday morning in early June and the Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) control room is crawling with visitors. Men in fatigues thumb through logbooks, monitor radiation levels, and consult data and images on laptop computers. These visitors are members of the U.S. Army’s Nuclear Disablement Team (NDT), participating in a new Nuclear Infrastructure, Assessment and Disablement (NIAD) field exercise that validates and certifies training received during INL’s annual NIAD course. The annual course is designed to improve the soldier’s proficiency and knowledge of nuclear fuel cycle processes, hazard mitigation and successful characterization and disablement of nuclear facilities.
The NDTs from the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives Command are highly specialized units stationed at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Their mission is to disable potential enemies’ nuclear capabilities, contributing to the nation’s strategic deterrence. These teams feature various experts, including officers who specialize in countering weapons of mass destruction, explosive ordinance disposal and nuclear medical science, and noncommissioned officers who specialize in health physics. The NDTs also facilitate follow-on weapons of mass destruction elimination operations and are trained to handle the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, interagency and allied operations.
During the training exercise at TREAT, several NDT members do the work, while a few observe. Later in the morning, the team will enter the reactor and work its way from the floor to the ceiling of the facility. This is the final day of training, and the exercises are intended to prepare this elite team for worst-case scenarios.
For example, imagine a nuclear power plant with suspect activity in a combat zone. NDT soldiers must have the expertise to assess and identify nuclear and radiological threats, characterize materials and disable nuclear infrastructure as needed. They also facilitate operations to eliminate weapons of mass destruction.
This partnership with INL is critical for NDT soldiers to advance their skills and training. With over 75 years of nuclear expertise, there’s no other place in the world with the same kind of radiological capabilities. INL provides essential knowledge to help NDT soldiers build and maintain their operational readiness.
“You have training and preparation, but you hope you never have to use it,” said Maj. Jeffery Chin, one of the two Army leaders observing the exercise in the TREAT control room.
