Attack at Pelindaba nuclear facility

The Pretoria News ^ | 9 November 2007

[Lexington Green]

A brazen attack by four gunmen on the Pelindaba nuclear facility has left a senior emergency officer seriously injured.

Anton Gerber, Necsa emergency services operational officer spoke to the Pretoria News from his hospital bed hours after the attack.

He was shot in the chest when the gunmen stormed the facility's emergency response control room in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The shooting comes four months after Necsa's newly appointed services general manager Eric Lerata, 43, was gunned down in front of his Montana home after returning from a business trip in France.

Pelindaba is regarded as one of the country's most secure national key points.

It is surrounded by electric fencing, has 24-hour CCTV surveillance, security guards and security controls and checkpoints.

The attack comes as the country prepares to preside over an International Atomic Energy Agency convention on nuclear safety.

The convention is aimed at achieving a high level of global nuclear safety via safety related technical co-operation; establishing and maintaining effective defences in nuclear installations against potential radiological hazards and preventing accidents with radiological consequences.

A visibly shaken Gerber, who was rushed to Eugene Marais hospital, on Thursday said that he was sitting in the control room with his fiancée Ria Meiring when he heard a loud bang.

Meiring, who was working nightshift, is the supervisor of the control room.

Gerber said he kept Meiring company. "I do not like it when she is at work at night and I go with her to keep her company and ensure that she is safe," he said.

Describing the attack Gerber said they were inside the electronically sealed control room when they heard a loud bang.

They then spotted the gunmen coming into the facility's eastern block.

It is believed that the attackers gained access to the building by using a ladder from Pelindaba's fire brigade and scaling a wall.

The men are thought to have forced open a window by pulling out several louvers.

Pushing Meiring underneath a desk, Gerber attacked two of the gunmen as they forced their way into the control room and ran straight for the control panel.

"I did not know what they were going to do. I just kept on hitting them even when one of them attacked me with a screwdriver.

"I knew that if I stopped they would attack Ria or do something to the panel.

"I could not let anything like that happen," he said.

Unbeknownst to Gerber one of the robbers had shot him in the chest as he fought them off.

The bullet narrowly missed his heart breaking a rib before puncturing his lung. Doctors said the bullet missed his spine by 2cm.

Gerber, who at one stage thought he was going to die, said he had been very scared.

"The facility is meant to be safe. There are security guards, electric fences and security control points. These things are not meant to happen," he said.

Necsa spokesperson Chantal Janneker confirmed the attack.

She declined to say how the gunmen had gained access to the facility or whether they had stolen anything.

Janneker said Necsa was conducting an internal investigation into the attack.

Once the police investigation was complete Necsa would divulge what happened, she said.

Later in the afternoon, Pretoria News was phoned by a man identifying himself as a Necsa legal adviser, saying the newspaper will be breaching the National Keypoints Act by publishing the story.

He said that Necsa may seek a court order preventing dissemination of the story.

He claimed that the interview with Gerber was "unethical" as "he was under sedation and thus incoherent" when it was conducted.

Pretoria News sought and was granted permission to interview Gerber, by hospital management, and Gerber himself. While he was obviously in pain, he appeared coherent and made sense throughout the interview.

His recall of the events was sequential and to the point. He also agreed to have his picture taken in his hospital bed.

North West police spokesperson Superintendent Louis Jacobs said that no arrests had been made.

"A case of armed robbery and attempted murder are being investigated," he said.

[rdl6989]

I wonder if the shooter’s name is Mohammed?

[VOA]

bump

[DoughtyOne]

Could you explain why you think his actions were foolish? Allowing access to the panel or his girl-friend would seem to have been a pretty poor alternate option. I think the guy deserves kudos.

As for him being there, he works for the place. He has security clearance. What’s wrong with him being there? I’m glad he was there.

[bd476]

The details in this story are chilling yet bring to mind further as of yet, unanswered questions. The South Africa nuclear energy group NECSA's legal advisors are threatening to seek court order to block further publication of the story.

Is security at Pelindaba so lax that anyone with access to the local fire brigade's ladder could have gained entry?

What damage was done to the control room?

What was stolen from the facility?

Was the South Africa nuclear facility an open, easy terrorist target?

Was this a clever breach of security?

Was this an inside job or ...?

From the article:

• "...The shooting comes four months after Necsa's newly appointed services general manager Eric Lerata, 43, was gunned down...
  
  
• ...Pelindaba is regarded as one of the country's most secure national key points.
  
  It is surrounded by electric fencing, has 24-hour CCTV surveillance, security guards and security controls and checkpoints.
  
  
• The attack comes as the country prepares to preside over an International Atomic Energy Agency convention on nuclear safety.
  
  The convention is aimed at achieving a high level of global nuclear safety via safety related technical co-operation; establishing and maintaining effective defences in nuclear installations against potential radiological hazards and preventing accidents with radiological consequences.
  
  
• ...A visibly shaken Gerber (Necsa emergency services operational officer) ... said that he was sitting in the control room with his fiancée Ria Meiring when he heard a loud bang.
  
  Meiring, who was working nightshift, is the supervisor of the control room...
  
  
• It is believed that the attackers gained access to the building by using a ladder from Pelindaba's fire brigade and scaling a wall.
  
  The men are thought to have forced open a window by pulling out several louvers..."
  
  
• ...Necsa spokesperson Chantal Janneker confirmed the attack.
  
  She declined to say how the gunmen had gained access to the facility or whether they had stolen anything."
  
  

[Brad’s Gramma]

Bump to read LATER! Thanks for the ping, bd...

[Gay State Conservative]

And over in Brazil (e.g. Rio) there are 108 people shot dead every night. Every Week. Every Year.

A few years back I took an afternoon tour of Rio.At one point,while we were at a nearby National Park (Tejuca Park?) the guide pointed out a favela that could be seen in the distance.She said that it was so violent that neither the police nor the Army dared to enter it *ever*...day or night.

[Jeff Head]

My bet is that the four had some inside help getting through the perimeter and inner security. That, or they do not have a a very good security system.

CCTV, security guard check points, and electric fence is a first step...but they better have multiple motion sensors (IR and doppler and quad beam), spotlights, sirens, guard dogs, etc. as well as a quick reaction team in case of penetration.

[Domestic Church]

What is a favela?

[bd476]

NECSA and some of their projects

From NECSA's About Us page:

• NECSA was established as public company yet is wholly owned by the government of South Africa.
  
  
• The Pelindaba facility has earned South Africa millions of Rands' worth of foreign revenue.
  
  
• NECSA provides a 24-hour emergency service for nuclear-related accidents throughout Africa.
  
  
• developing a low-cost radioactive waste-disposal facility... the Borehole Nuclear Waste Disposal System to be used for the disposal of radioactive waste from hospitals on the continent.
  
  
• sends top nuclear scientists to help condition and store spent radium sources in

  Zimbabwe,
  Madagascar,
  Tunisia,
  Sudan and
  Mauritius.

  
  
• involved in dam leakage detection
  
  
• audits radiotherapy and nuclear medicine facilities in other countries, including
  

  Libya,
  Nigeria and
  Ethiopia.

  
  
  
• involved in projects improving crop quality
  
  
• involved in projects improving cattle production
  
  
• houses and operates the first gamma-irradiation facility in Africa...used to sterilise a range of products such as peat moss used as growth medium in the seed industry.
  
  
• using radiation techniques, helps in identifying origin of ivory which helps curb the illegal trade of elephant and rhino horns
  
  
• using radiation techniques in archaelogical dating of artefacts
  
  From NECSA's About Us page :
  
  

[blam]

"What is a favela?"

A shanty town.

[Domestic Church]

Thanks!

[MindBender26]

>>>>”A case of armed robbery and attempted murder are being investigated,”

This was not a robbery. They ran for the control panel, not the cash box.

[MHGinTN]

I wouldn’t trust the story as told. There are other possible things which may have netted intruders usable/sellable materials on the black market, and worth millions to the ROP qaeda world terrorism types.

[billmor]

“A case of armed robbery and attempted murder are being investigated,” he said.

So um, breaking intoa secure nuclear facility is not a crime ?..or attacking an official S.A. Federal worker- no federal charge there ?...Trespassing and causing damage on the grounds of a Federal facility ?.....either the reporter missed some info or the police report overlooked a few ‘small’ items...and some security—protected by louvers ?...Excuse me ?

[cardinal4]

I wonder if this incident has anything to do with this ?

[show me state]

Where is this info. found?

Brazil has 100 million fewer citizens than the United States, but a staggering 25 percent more gun deaths at nearly 40,000 a year.

40000/365=109.59

[mickeylee]

What the heck does Brazil have to do with South Africa (in this case)?

I am moving there soon (Brazil) and I am just wondering why an incident in S.A. is linked to have anything to do with Brazil?

Or are you just off topic?

[SwankyC]

Pelindaba is regarded as one of the country's most secure national key points.
It is surrounded by electric fencing, has 24-hour CCTV surveillance, security guards and security controls and checkpoints

It is believed that the attackers gained access to the building by using a ladder from Pelindaba's fire brigade and scaling a wall.

hmmm, One of the country's most secure facilities....foiled by a DAMNED LADDER!

Does anyone else see the problem here.

[matthew fuller]

"She said that it was so violent that neither the police nor the Army dared to enter it *ever*...day or night."

I heard that there was a place like that near New Orleans- Algiers or something like that.

[353FMG]

“I think the guy deserves kudos.”

I think so, too. It was foolish of him not be armed. What’s the use of security if armed intruders can get to you with little effort. He is lucky to be alive. The whole report leaves many questions unanswered. The armed intruders rushed to the control panels. Did they get there and what did they do? How did they get away?