Editing Nuclear terrorism (section)

==== Hoaxes ====
In late 1974, President [[Gerald Ford]] was warned that the [[FBI]] received a communication from an [[extortion]]ist wanting $200,000 (${{Inflation|US|200000|1974|r=-5|fmt=c}} today) after claiming that a nuclear weapon had been placed somewhere in [[Boston]]. A team of experts rushed in from the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission]] but their radiation detection gear arrived at a different airport. Federal officials then rented a fleet of vans to carry concealed [[radiation detector]]s around the city but forgot to bring the tools they needed to install the equipment. The incident was later found to be a [[hoax]]. However, the government's response made clear the need for an agency capable of effectively responding to such threats in the future. Later that year, President Ford created the [[Nuclear Emergency Search Team]] (NEST), which under the [[United States Atomic Energy Act of 1954|Atomic Energy Act]] is tasked with investigating the "illegal use of nuclear materials within the United States, including terrorist threats involving the use of special nuclear materials".<ref name="nv.doe.gov">{{cite web | url=http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/FactSheets/NEST.pdf | title=Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST) | publisher=U.S. Department of Energy | access-date=2012-10-21 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923060954/http://www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/NEST.pdf | archive-date=2006-09-23 }}</ref>

One of its first responses by the Nuclear Emergency Search/Support Team was in [[Spokane, Washington]] on November 23, 1976. An unknown group called the "Days of Omega" had mailed an [[extortion]] threat claiming it would explode radioactive containers of water all over the city unless paid $500,000 (${{Inflation|US|500000|1976|r=-5|fmt=c}} today). Presumably, the radioactive containers had been stolen from the [[Hanford Site]], less than 150 miles to the southwest. Immediately, NEST flew in a support aircraft from [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] and began searching for non-natural radiation, but found nothing. No one ever responded despite the elaborate instructions given, or made any attempt to claim the (fake) money which was kept under surveillance. Within days, the incident was deemed a hoax, though the case was never solved. To avoid panic, the public was not notified until a few years later.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19810208&id=BvQjAAAAIBAJ&pg=7016,3271794| title=The day they said they'd nuke Spokane-Part 1| last=Peck| first=Chris| work=[[The Spokesman-Review]]| page=17| date=1981-02-08| access-date=2012-10-21| format=scan| archive-date=2023-03-15| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315023412/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19810208&id=BvQjAAAAIBAJ&pg=7016,3271794| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19810208&id=BvQjAAAAIBAJ&pg=6964,2969786| title=The day they said they'd nuke Spokane-Part 2| last=Peck| first=Chris| work=The Spokesman-Review| page=24| date=1981-02-08| access-date=2012-10-21| format=scan| archive-date=2023-03-15| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315023412/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19810208&id=BvQjAAAAIBAJ&pg=6964,2969786| url-status=live}}</ref>