Trucks Carrying Nuclear Weapons Around The Country Revealed (PHOTOS)

The idea of nuclear weapons being carted around in our highways, cities and neighborhoods doesn't really put one's mind at ease. However, the government has been transporting seriously dangerous stuff like enriched uranium and plutonium secretly without public warning. Friends of the Earth through the Freedom of Information Act has forced the Department Of Energy to release color photos of the trucks used to transport weapons. According to FOE, these are the first of such pictures that have been released in many years.

Tom Clements, Southeastern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator with Friends of the Earth in Columbia, South Carolina made the following statement about the importance of the release of the photos.

"The trucks carrying nuclear weapons and dangerous materials such as plutonium pass through cities and neighborhoods all the time and the public should be aware of what they look like. Release of these photos will help inform the public about secretive shipments of dangerous nuclear material that are taking place in plain view."

Here's another photo that was just released.

Quick Poll

Do the release of nuclear bomb truck photos make you feel safer?

Absolutely. We need all the information we can get about this sort of thing.

I'm concerned that if people know what these trucks look like, it could cause more harm than good.

I can't believe they take these weapons on our roads at all! I feel way less safe.

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Comments

[FBatRNC]

09:08 PM on 09/05/2009

I just realized that they did not blur out the darn license plate number. Now that is just idiotic.

[Pilate]

12:50 PM on 09/06/2009

Machs nichts. Either it was Photoshopped to start with, or it will be changed yesterday. Plus, this semi is just about as generic looking as you could imagine. Proves nothing, helps nothing, just stirs the pot. A waste of server space, in my opinion.

[RRonin]

11:46 PM on 09/06/2009

Yah, the plates are interchangable. That just makes sense. It would be smarter if they marked the trucks with the names of well known shipping companies.

[FBatRNC]

09:03 PM on 09/05/2009

A public warning would be a very dumb thing to do. That effectively advertises that your going to be carrying radioactive material in the area. That is not a smart security move, it could lead to an ambush.

[bkpx]

04:52 PM on 09/05/2009

I saw this on Trick My Truck months ago. I had my suspicions, but when they installed the custom-designed, platinum-plated geiger counter, that clinched it.

[ezeflyer]

03:33 PM on 09/05/2009

I remember an unmarked semi with the radioactivity sign on the back, parked in front of my kids school. Never could find out anything about it.

[Lawrence Anderson]

01:27 PM on 09/05/2009

OH Darn, Those guys are mess'in up the road way where we hitch-hike!!

[Trucker Chuck]

12:39 PM on 09/05/2009

Bullshit. For one, that is a refer trailer. For two, guys pulling hazmat dont cruise around residential neighborhoods waving at Billy and Suzzy as the walk to school. Trucks carrying hazmat material stay on the freeways and the drivers are required to stay on specific routes. There is nothing new or shocking about this, trucks have been transporting hazardous material since the discovery of nuclear material.

Its another example of Fear reporting. Speaking of fear, the guys who deliver gas DO drive by schools and residential areas daily. Tankers that can hold 60,000 pounds of gas pull into gas stations in residential neighborhoods, grocery stores that sell gas, everywhere. Now that might be something to be concerned about.

[JRPainting]

11:22 PM on 09/04/2009

Interesting. This photo has no identifying markings. No DOT markings. No Plates. No weight class. looks like a stock photo from a truck manufacture.

[SharonWantsToTalk]

11:51 PM on 09/04/2009

Looks like a Peterbilt to me. So we can assume all unmarked Peterbilt (especially the blue ones) are carrying these loads.

[RightWingMarine]

03:34 PM on 09/04/2009

the headline and first sentence allege that nuclear weapons are being moved about in these trucks but then the claim changes to "dangerous stuff like enriched uranium and plutonium." While nuke bombs can be made from Uranium and Plutonium these metals by themselves do not a nuke bomb make. A truck can be carrying a load of steel that will be used to make pistols, that doesn't make it a truck carrying guns.

[JRPainting]

10:51 PM on 09/04/2009

When I was stationed at VC-6 Nas Norfolk our mission was to offload all special weapons(nuclear), on to our CH-46 Helocopters before they entered port. Just think how much safer Norfolk and Va Beach is that we airlift these weapons off, and fly them in helecopters to an underground bunker at NAS Norfolk. Then they were moved late at night down I-64 with a Marine gaurd in plain white 18 wheelers. Sent to parts unknown by me. I always thought the weapons were safer on board ship in situ. But there is a rule about ships comming into port with nukes. Dumb, just plain dumb.

[JRPainting]

10:57 PM on 09/04/2009

TYPO I was at HC-6 not VC-6. HC-6 is Helicoptor combat support squadron six.

[DrPhil]

03:10 PM on 09/04/2009

I was promised PHOTOS.

[OdinsEye]

03:21 PM on 09/04/2009

I see them.

[research]

03:04 PM on 09/04/2009

I hope by this picture, you mean they look like any other truck, not specifically this color and model truck.

[Eris23Skidoo]

02:47 PM on 09/04/2009

So what happens if one of these trucks is involved in a collision? How can the Energy Dept be so stupid?

[OdinsEye]

03:22 PM on 09/04/2009

"So what happens if one of these trucks is involved in a collision? "

Not a lot.

[youngliberal]

05:56 PM on 09/04/2009

If the impact were great enough to cause a leak, allowing radioactive material to escape and possible poison the atmosphere/people nearby, that would suck.

Obviously its a stretch. Regardless, radiation poisoning will kill you. Hate to be the driver of these trucks.

[Celebrindan]

05:35 PM on 09/04/2009

The armoring on these trucks would make any A1 Abrams tank green with envy.

You could take a .44 cal. pistol with magnum load rounds, and shoot one or more of these tires, and nothing would happen, except that you might have to duck the ricocheted bullet.

[RuthlessDictator]

05:27 PM on 09/06/2009

That truck in the photo is NOT armored. I work for a company that armors vehicles.

Also the tires have inserts with run-flat capabilities but I don't know where you got this "ricocheted bullet" nonsense.

[Eris23Skidoo]

02:47 PM on 09/04/2009

Sounds like we need a George Bush to declare an illegal war on the Energy dept before we wake up one morning to a mushroom cloud...

[OdinsEye]

03:23 PM on 09/04/2009

There is no way for one of these trucks to have a nuclear detonation.

[EHarold]

02:36 PM on 09/04/2009

Here's a great way to not have to worry about trucks transporting nukes on our roadways. Stop making nukes.. Yeah crazy idea I know..

[Borys Rzonca]

01:21 PM on 09/04/2009

"transparency extremism" like that is just ridicules. Government transparency is suppose to make us safe by solving the "who watches the watchmen" problem (who does? we all do, at least in ideal situation). But revealing these pictures is like showing pictures of all undercover cops.
It actually makes us less safe, by allowing to target them.

Of course there should be discussion about driving nukes around the country - how is it done? why? is it really necessary? Is it safe? etc. (alas it seems obvious that as long as we will build nukes we will have to transport them and their components somehow)

[Jen0141]

03:39 PM on 09/04/2009

There is actually a significant amount of research done into transporting these as safely as possible, while putting the fewest possible people at risk. I took a traffic engineering course in college that discussed different algorithms for determining routes for hazardous material. During times of high risk (one simple example might be when they raise the terror alert level), the different factors are weighed to produce the least possible risk to the general public

Some of the factors include population density (they're not going to drive a nuke through NYC), potential alternate routes (they won't send a truck down a road with no potential detours), condition of roads (why send a truck down a heavily potholed road?), and environmental (don't drive it through Florida during hurricane season, Oklahoma during tornado season, etc).

[PartTimeRoadie]

01:19 PM on 09/04/2009

You know, this is an example of where, sometimes secrecy is nessasary...

Now, am I thrilled out the idea of these things being moved around the country by road or rail? Of course not. But I'm not so far removed from reality, or so ideologically driven, to think that 1) it doesn't/wouldn't happen, or 2) that it isn't some times nessasary.

However, there is a reason the movement of these vehicles are kept secret. A very good reason. The same reason why pharmacy deliveries aren't posted next to the bus schedule. It makes them a high-priority target for those with less-than-honorable intentions.