Official: Nuclear Plant Pipe Bomb 'Crude'

Nov. 2, 2007 — -- With the nation's largest nuclear power plant on lockdown after a suspicious incident, authorities have a contract plant employee in custody after security staff found what they describe as a "crude" explosive device in his vehicle.

According to a federal law enforcement official on the scene at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, which is approximately 55 miles west of Phoenix, the employee's pickup truck was searched as part of standard procedure as he entered the site. The checkpoint is approximately 1.5 miles outside the plant.

"In the open bed of the truck, what appeared to be an IED [improvised explosive device], a pipe bomb, was discovered," the official told ABC News.

After security guards noticed the suspicious device, they called in the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office's bomb squad. FBI bomb technicians are assisting with the investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security said the incident does not have a nexus to terrorism.

According to the source, the device had a "hobby" fuse and was described as "not sophisticated" and "rather crude," though "it certainly could have put a hole in the bed of the pickup truck."

Maricopa County Sheriff's Office spokesman Capt. Paul Chagolla said that, based on preliminary tests, "it is our opinion that it is, in fact, a viable improvised explosive device."

The device is described as being 6 inches long, and 1½ inches in diameter.

The plant employee is in custody.

"We are questioning him. He is cooperative," Chagolla said.

The employee told investigators he hadn't driven the pickup truck to work in some time, leaving open the possibility the device could have been placed in the bed of the truck unbeknown to him.

The employee is a contractor who has worked at the Palo Verde facility for about a year, according to plant spokesman Jim McDonald. The employee works as a procurement engineer responsible for making sure materials that have been purchased for the plant are the correct type for their intended purpose.

The employee has had full clearance and access to the protected areas of the plant but spends most of his time in the administrative offices. McDonald said the last time he was in the protected area of the plant was Oct. 17.

According to an Arizona law enforcement source, authorities conducted a thorough search of the home of the employee. No evidence was found that had anything to do with the construction of the pipe bomb. No explosive materials were found at his apartment, and no materials were removed.

The source added that there is no indication at this time the employee had anything to do with the construction of the improvised explosive device, but the investigation is ongoing.

As for the plant, it is "being placed on a security lockdown, which means no one is coming or going while the investigation continues," Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Victor Dricks told ABC News.

Dricks said the facility declared the incident an "unusual event, which is the lowest of four security classifications.

"From what we've seen, it would appear that the guards were attentive and took appropriate action and that the security plan functioned as designed, and there was no threat to either the public or the surrounding community as a result," he added.

Dricks told ABC News that he is not aware of any other nuclear power plants changing their security posture because of this incident.

McDonald said operations have not been affected, and plant officials expect to go back to business as usual very soon.