Doctor Carol Wisnicki was a nuclear engineer and had been Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for almost ten years.
"Mr. President, the Harris plant went off line at 1954 hours today. We have been unable to contact any personnel in the Main Control Room or anywhere on site. The plant's Reactor Coolant System is designed to go into automatic recirculation if the reactor trips and no further actions are taken by the plant staff. The reactor core will remain stable for at least 48 hours with no further action. After that, there will be a series of escalating problems. The NRC will be making a public statement reference Harris sometime in the next few minutes. Since the plant staff is deemed no longer capable of ensuring public safety, we have no choice but to declare a General Emergency. This will activate the State and County Emergency Operations Centers, and a variety of federal agencies. Harris personnel who are part of the Harris Emergency Plan and located off site will be contacted to start staffing a backup emergency facility located in downtown Raleigh," Chairman Wisnicki said.
"What about evacuations?" the President asked.
"Mr. President, I agree with the Vice President. We should initiate a mandatory evacuation of the 10-mile Emergency Preparedness Zone as soon as we declare the General Emergency. In addition, I would recommend that we evacuate all people in the 50-mile Ingestion Preparedness Zone upwind of the plant site," Chairman Wisnicki said.
"How many people are we talking about?" the President asked.
"Approximately 500,000, Mr. President, with the current and projected wind vectors," she replied.
"Chairman Wisnicki, please coordinate with your staff and start those evacuations as soon as you declare the General Emergency," the President said.
"Yes, Mr. President," she said, and began texting instructions to her staff.
"Now, what is the objective of these terrorists? Director Davidson, I'm glad to see that you were invited to represent the CIA at this meeting. You have been involved in this mess since the beginning. What do these people want?" the President asked.
"Mr. President, I hate to say this, but we have reached the conclusion that these men don't want anything. What they intend to do is take everything from us . . . from the United States of America. They intend to destroy us," Janet Davidson said.
The outburst in the room didn't stop until the President began pounding on the table.
"Please explain, Director Davidson," the President said, while straightening his tie.
"One of my agents, Amanda Langford, was the one who developed the theory of a Chinese plot to smuggle nuclear devices into the United States. She was also involved in the tracking of these individuals in the Southeast, and was present during the recent explosion in South Carolina at one of their safe houses. As most of you are aware, several DHS personnel lost their lives. Agent Langford received a concussion, and minor scrapes and bruises due to the blast. She's recovering at her parents' home in Raleigh, North Carolina," Janet said.
"Over the last few weeks, as we were all searching for these terrorists and the missing device, Agent Langford asked me this question, 'What would you do if I were in their place? What would you do with this weapon?'" Janet continued.
"I'm a retired Marine . . . a combat veteran. She and I had a discussion about force multipliers. At the end of the discussion, she looked at me and said, 'I know what I'd do. I'd blow up a nuclear plant'. At first I thought that was a stretch. But the more we talked about it, the more sense it made. After we looked at all the plants in the Southeast, Agent Langford told me that she would choose the Harris plant. I asked her why and she said, ' . . . because of the spent fuel stored there. I'd blow up the spent fuel.' Janet said, as several gasps were heard in the room.
"I thought reactor fuel couldn't blow up," said Attorney General Delores Bull.
"It can't Attorney General; the U-235 enrichment is far too low. Nuclear weapons are enriched to at least 95%. Commercial reactor fuel is only enriched to around 4-7%. After the fuel has been used for three reactor cycles, with each cycle around 12-18 months, depending on the reactor, the fuel is removed and stored deep underwater in pools," Commissioner Wisnicki said.
"Then what happens to it?" the Attorney General asked.
"Then it just sits there. Some plants are going to Dry Cask storage after the fuel is ten years old or so, but Harris isn't one of those plants. Their Fuel Handling Building was designed to support four reactors, so it has a huge capacity for spent fuel storage," Chairman Wisnicki said.
"Chairman, what would happen if a nuclear weapon was detonated inside this fuel handling building?" the President asked.
"Mr. President, we have exact data on what is in the pools at Harris. I'd rather not speculate. Let me have some of my staff run some models. That would be far more accurate than my guess," Chairman Wisnicki said.
"Chairman, it's my understanding that you have a degree in Nuclear Engineering. Is that correct?" the President said.
"Yes, Mr. President, that's correct," she replied.
"So guess! I won't hold you to the exact numbers, but I want an idea of what the impact would be of this weapon being detonated inside that damn building," the President said.
"If you will give me a few minutes, I can give you an approximation, Mr. President" she said.
"Proceed, Chairman," the President said.
Chairman Wisnicki reached under her chair and removed her laptop. Three minutes later, she closed it, but said nothing. She just stared at her hands resting on the closed laptop.
"Chairman?" the President asked, but she didn't respond.
"Chairman Wisnicki!" the President said.
She looked up and stared at him, unblinking.
"Mr. President, when I was a young girl, I watched an old movie with my dad. He loved old black and white films. I remember this one film that scared me to death. I had nightmares for a week," she began.
"What the hell does this have to do with . . ." Vice President O'Quinn interrupted.
"Quiet! Please continue, Chairman, the President said.
"The movie was 'On the Beach' starring Gregory Peck. World War 3 had started. Fallout was circling the globe and killing all life on the planet," she began, and then paused to carefully select her next words.
"Mr. President, if my primary calculations are correct, a 30 kt device detonated inside the Harris Fuel Handling Building will have close to the same effect. After about two weeks, the Northern Hemisphere would be uninhabitable. These idiots won't just destroy the United States . . . they'll destroy Europe, Russia and even China. It would poison the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere . . . I'm not sure. It all depends on the dispersal rate. Does it stay in the Stratosphere or are the particles too heavy? That would require further analysis," she said.
Once again the room erupted into turmoil and disbelief. Chairman Wisnicki opened up her laptop, and began going over the calculations once again, while the President tried to silence the room.
"I don't buy it. Chernobyl was a terrible disaster. The Russians screwed up and had a steam explosion that blew their core into the upper atmosphere. It was scary, and may have caused a few additional cancer deaths, but that's it. Other than the area around the plant, the long term impact on Russia and Europe was next to nothing," said Clarisse Beaumont, the National Security Advisor, after the room had calmed down.
"At the time of the Chernobyl accident, the RMBK-1000 reactor vessel contained approximately 180 tons of uranium. The Harris spent fuel pools contain over 3,000 tons of Uranium and other long-lived radioactive material. What makes it even worse is the amount of water in the building. If you add up all the water in the various pools and canals, it's over 1,000,000 gallons of water. If a 30kt device is detonated in that building, all the water will turn instantly to steam. The building will be blown apart. I'm talking about a building that has walls four feet thick and a ceiling two feet thick. No one has ever modeled a steam explosion combined with a 30kt fission device. The vast majority of the spent fuel wou
ld be atomized and carried upward with the plume. The height of the plume would exceed that of the largest volcanic explosion in human history, in excess of 50 kilometers," Chairman Wisnicki said, while finishing the repeat of her calculations.
"The calculations are correct. I had to make a few assumptions about meteorology, but they're accurate within 5-10 % . . . higher or lower," she said, then closed the laptop again.
The Situation Room was silent. The majority seemed to be in shock at the information they had just received.
"General Munford, military options?" the President asked.
"I know that Special Forces teams from Ft. Bragg have used the Harris site for practice. It was very useful for the spec ops people, and helped the plant security folks identify some of their weaknesses," said General Munford, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"Evidently not enough," said Vice President O'Quinn.
"We have detailed information about the plant, Mr. President. We can try something subtle or we can pound the place into dust, your choice," General Munford said.
"Mr. President, if we bomb Harris, we'll damage the reactor and probably the cooling system for the spent fuel pools. Neither one of those is desirable. We might even trigger the nuclear device," Chairman Wisnicki said.
"Mr. President, what we need is for these terrorists to be dead without destroying ourselves in the process," the Vice President said.
"Then we have to hunt them down and secure the weapon, Mr. President," General Munford said.
"Can you do that, General?" the President asked.
"Mr. President, hunting down assholes that our government wants removed is one of our specialties," General Munford said.
"General Mumford, I don't want any of them getting away. I don't want that device getting away. This whole thing has to end," the President said.
"Mr. President, we'll secure the area around the site to ensure that no one gets out. Then we'll terminate these people and secure the weapon," General Munford said.
"How, General? We don't have much time," the President said.
"Everything we need is at Ft. Bragg, 50 miles south of the plant. The 82nd Airborne, Special Forces Ops Command, more than enough, Mr. President," General Munford said.
"When can you start?" the President asked.
"Mr. President, I'll have troops on the road from Ft. Bragg before midnight. They'll secure the perimeter. Then I'll unleash the dogs. Delta will hit them some time tonight. With any luck, this will be over tomorrow," General Munford said.
"Any opinions on this aggressive course of action?" the President asked.
"What if we spur them into detonating the weapon?" the Vice President asked.
"Mr. Vice President, they're going to detonate the weapon even if we don't do anything," Director Davidson said.
"Mr. President, the TV . . ." the Chief of Staff said.
One wall of the Situation Room was covered with video monitors. A representative of the NRC was on screen declaring a General Emergency at the Harris Nuclear Plant.
"All right, we've talked enough. General Munford, proceed with your plan. By tomorrow night, I want this done with," the President said.
"Yes, Mr. President," General Munford said.
CHAPTER 46
The Langford Home
106 East Whitaker Mill Road
Raleigh, North Carolina
August 2, 2017
2230 hours EST
"Daddy, I still can't believe you and Momma sold the farm, and moved into the city," Amanda said, as she sat on the front porch swing of her parent's new home in Raleigh.
She and her father rocked back and forth, enjoying the cool night air. The sun had set hours ago. The stifling heat and humidity of the day had finally departed.
"Well, your brothers had no interest in farming, and you certainly weren't moving back in. So your mother and I decided it was time for a change. I'll admit, the farm was getting to be too much. We're both getting too old for that much work. The only problem now is that she still feeds me like I'm working from sunup to sundown. I've already put on ten pounds, and now I can smell fresh apple pie," Will said, as he began sniffing the cool night air.
"Kind of late for Momma to be cooking a pie, but it sure does smell good," Amanda said, as she felt her cell phone buzzing in her back pocket.
"We got an offer we couldn't refuse for the farm. You know, developers are always looking to expand. The county population has more than tripled since 1970, and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down anytime soon," Will said.
"What do you know about the house?" Amanda asked.
"Evidently, it used to belong to a printer, if you can believe that. There's a nice basement, and I've already started moving some of my woodworking equipment into an old garage in the back. By Thanksgiving, I'll be making toys for your kids," Will said, as Amanda's phone buzzed for the second time.
"Daddy . . . I don't have any children," Amanda said, wondering if her father's mind was starting to get old along with the rest of him.
"Exactly! Work's important, but you need someone to help you through the hard times, and I'm not talking about a dog. Girl, somebody's trying to get hold of you, real bad. You might as well answer that thing," Will said.
Amanda sighed, as she removed her cell phone from her back pocket, and turned it on.
"Oh crap, it's my boss," Amanda said.
"Watch your language, child. Your momma still knows how to use a switch," Will said, and laughed as he remembered how his wife would tie a switch to her apron as a warning when the kids were misbehaving.
"Yes, Ms. Davidson," Amanda said, as she answered the call.
"Agent Langford, the CIA gives you a cell phone for a reason, and it's not so you can ignore calls. Am I understood?" Director Janet Davidson said.
"Yes, ma'am . . . Ms. Davidson, what can I do for you?" Amanda asked, as her father chuckled.
"Go turn on the TV and find out what's happening. Where are you, out in the woods, or in the middle of a field picking berries?" Janet asked.
"Yes, Ms. Davidson, checking right now," Amanda said, while running into the house.
"Amanda, if something is going on around here, it will be on WRAL. Put it on Channel 3. Selma, you better come in here. Something is going on," Will said, as Amanda picked up the remote.
"There, it's on WRAL," Amanda said, as she sat down between her parents on the living room sofa.
. . . .
"This is Gilbert Gomez with Breaking News. I'm broadcasting live from the intersection of New Hill-Holloman Road and SR 1135. This is as close as the Highway Patrol will let anyone get to the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant. We have it from numerous reliable sources that the nuclear plant has been taken over by suspected terrorists. You can hear the sound of sirens as first responders of all types are converging on the area around the plant. I have been told that there are no indications of a radioactive release at this time. Despite that claim, evacuation sirens have been sounded, and police are going door to door inside the 10-mile EPZ. They are requesting that people leave the area immediately. We will be staying live with this story for the foreseeable future. This is Gilbert Gomez, WRAL Breaking News."
. . . .
"Holy crap!" Amanda said, as she jumped off the sofa.
"Young lady, I did not raise you to use such language," Selma said, as Amanda ran outside to the porch.
"Director, this looks bad. What do you want me to do?" Amanda asked, while pacing on the porch.
"First question, have you recovered enough from the explosion to be functional? Janet asked.
"I'm fine. What do you want me to do?" Amanda asked.
"The NRC has declared a General Emergency at Harris. The security force has been taken out, and they can't get in touch with the Main Control Room. The President has declared a National Emergency. The military will be taking action soon. The State of North Carolina will be activating their EOC in downtown Raleigh. Get down there and find out what they
know. I'm sending a team down there, but I need information right now. Stay in touch and answer your damn phone," Janet said, and hung up.
"Momma, Daddy . . . I have to go. You two need to pack some bags and leave the area. The Chinese that I told you about, they've taken the Harris Nuclear Plant. Harris is the biggest nuclear waste repository in the Southeast. They've been storing spent fuel there from four different plants for decades. These men have a nuclear bomb. This could get really bad. Daddy, I want you and Momma out of this house in 15 minutes. Do you still have that cabin in the mountains?" Amanda said, as she ran back inside, grabbed her backpack, car keys, and ran back out the door.
"It's still there, just west of Asheville," Will said.
"You and Momma get on Highway 40 and head there until you hear from me. I'm not asking, Daddy. I'm telling you that unless you want to die, you have to leave now," Amanda said, as her mother began crying and hugged her.
"Momma, I love you both, but I have work to do. You go pack some clothes for you and Daddy. Daddy, take your pistol with you, and some canned food and water . . . ten minutes, Daddy, I have to go," Amanda said, as she held back tears, and ran for her car.
CHAPTER 47
Headquarters
2nd Brigade Combat Team
82nd Airborne Division
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
August 2, 2017
2310 hours EST
"Lieutenant Colonel Thompson, thank you for getting here in an expedited manner. It would seem that we have a national emergency. The President has requested our services, and your battalion is on call. I'll cut to the chase. I trust that you are familiar with the ongoing situation with the rogue Chinese Special Forces operators within the United States," said Brigadier General Alcott, commanding officer of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
"Yes, Sir. Intimately familiar, Sir. When I was assigned to the Pentagon, one of these bastards murdered my pregnant wife," Lt. Colonel Anthony Thompson said.
HARRIS (Detonation) Page 18