Scientists, engineers, and technicians from the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Nuclear/Radiological Advisory Team (NRAT) recently conducted advanced maritime training aboard the Maersk Detroit in order to expand their advanced shipboard operational skill sets while on the voyage.
Developed to provide technical expertise in response to various nuclear and radiological threats, the deployable NRAT team used its exercise to identify radioactive material aboard the container ship as it made its way from Savannah, Georgia to Houston, Texas.
The vessel was fully loaded with a total of 6,300 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers during the exercise.
“Combining those tactics, techniques, and procedures with specialized tools and detection instrumentation, NRAT has become the most capable entity in the world for handling this type of operation,” Lonnie Swindell, program manager for NNSA’s Office of Nuclear Incident Response, said. “At the same time, the team was able to address the challenges and complexities of radiological detection on a large vessel while at sea.”
As a unit of NNSA’s Office of Nuclear Incident Response, the on-call NRAT team serves as one of the administration’s premier emergency response capabilities in support of the United States various counter-terrorism initiatives.
According to the NNSA, personnel involved with the exercise emanated from the Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, D.C., and the Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada.