The Pelindaba Nuclear Research Facility in South Africa

The Pelindaba Nuclear Research Facility, the primary nuclear site in South Africa, was the setting for an armed raid last year with terrifying implications. In the 1970’s the South African government began a secret military program, like far too many nations around the world, to arm with nuclear weapons. By the 1990’s however, under international pressure, and with the promise of international incentives, South Africa disarmed its nuclear arsenal. The stockpile of nuclear fuel, in the form of highly enriched uranium (HEU), stayed in the country however and today resides at the Pelindaba Nuclear Research Facility about 18 miles west of Pretoria.

HEU is a very difficult substance to process, and is the most difficult phase of the manufacture of a nuclear weapon. Once the uranium is properly refined there’s a relatively simple method involved in making a crude nuclear weapon, which would not be difficult for anyone with a PhD in Physics to figure out. Unfortunately it takes only a few pounds of the highly enriched uranium to make a crude atomic device. It is estimated that 1,000 pounds of HEU are currently stored at Pelindaba, which be worth, conservatively, hundreds of millions of dollars on the Black Market. The South African government has repeatedly assured the international community however that the facility is a fortress, heavily guarded against any potential attack. The events of a chilling raid last year however, demonstrated otherwise.

On the evening of November 7, 2007 four armed men penetrated the compound at Pelindaba, slicing through a 10,000 volt electrified fence, mysteriously passing by security cameras without being noticed, and making their way a full three quarters of a mile undetected to a control room that monitors emergencies. It was in that room that their caper was heroically foiled by a the head of the emergency control center at the plant, Anton Gerber, who wasn’t even supposed to be there that night but had come in to keep his fiance company in the control room, who was filling for a sick worker.

Gerber immediately called the plant security office, three minutes away, after noticing the intruders through a crack in the doorway to the control room. The attackers entered the room, repeatedly asked why he called and then Gerber, who responded by going ballistic and fighting all four of them with his bare hands. Meanwhile on the other side of the plant, 4 more armed men entered the perimeter of the facility. Gerber was able to knock 2 of the attackers to the ground before he was shot in the chest by another then brutally beaten on the ground. But the scuffle and probably the knowledge that security had been called was enough to scare both the attackers and the 4 additional intruders out of the compound. Gerber fortunately survived, no thanks to plant security who took a full 24 minutes to respond to the call, despite the fact that their maximum response time was supposed to be 4 minutes.

The South African government denies that the attack on the plant had anything to do with the nuclear material contained inside of it, insisting to 60 Minutes, in a report that will air this week, that the intruders wanted to steal laptops or other commercial products at the facility. However the sheer effort and coordination involved in penetrating a facility with such high security renders such claims ridiculous. The South African government’s attitude highlights an enormous problem with transparency in dealing with nuclear proliferation issues around the world. Given the highly charged nature of the subject and what’s at stake it is often extremely difficult to deal with governments “on the level” about nukes.

South Africa for its part insists that security has been upgraded at Pelindaba. It also fired the video camera operators that missed the assailants on their way into the facility. But the entire incident serves as a chilling reminder of how much can go wrong when it comes to dealing with nuclear materials around the world.

You can takepart in getting rid of nuclear weapons around the globe by logging onto the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

You can check out 60 Minutes coverage of the incident at Pelindaba in video embeds below:

You can watch a 60 Minutes report on nuclear energy by clicking here:

LINKS:

CBS News: 60 Minutes: Nuke Facility Raid An Inside Job?

Majikthise: Gunmen storm South African nuclear facility

Pretoria News: Attack at Pelindaba nuclear facility