Minute Zero by Todd Moss Page B

uranium.”
    Uranium?
thought Judd.
Am I in the right meeting?
    “The White House, under advisement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is increasingly concerned about the security of radioactive materials. Here are our target countries.”
    A screen lit up with a map of the world. About two dozen countries were highlighted in bright red. “Mali,” sighed Judd, finally understanding why he was there.
Am I being pulled off Zimbabwe already?
he wondered.
    “Nearly two-thirds of all uranium comes from just three countries: Kazakhstan, Australia, and Canada. We’ve established high-confidence monitoring systems in those locations. But there are a growing number of new discoveries. Estimated reserves are low, and these new sites are typically not large enough for commercial mining companies. So governments have been inviting small, lesser-known prospecting companies to conduct seismic studies and carry out test drilling. We have concerns that several of these unknown wildcat miners may be connected to international criminal cartels or extremist networks seeking high-grade uranium. They won’t care about the price or commercial viability. They only need access to enough material to create a weapon.”
    Yikes. I see where this is going.
    “I won’t pretend to fully understand the physics,” the admiral said. “But we have reports from a British intelligence source about the possible discovery of a new and highly dangerous variant of uranium with unusually high levels of the U-235 isotope. This is still unconfirmed, but it’s alarming enough that we called you all here today. The British memo is still being assessed by science teams at CIA, DIA, and a special unit at the Department of Energy. But if it turns out to be correct, this could be a naturally occurring form of highly enriched uranium. That means raw ore capable of being weaponized without complex processing.”
    Admiral Hammond leaned forward and placed both hands on the table.
    “I don’t think I need to tell the people in this room how serious this is. If such material exists and falls into the wrong hands, it would be our worst nightmare.”
    The room buzzed with nervous energy.
    “You were all asked to come here this morning to assist with our urgent risk assessment. Here are our immediate countries of interest.” The screen flashed as he read out the list: “Pakistan, Somalia, Mali, Chad, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Venezuela.”
    Shit. Some list,
thought Judd.
    “In each of these countries, we are taking steps to upgrade the monitoring of mining zones and, as of this morning, we are establishing Intelligence Community task forces to assess the risks. This is a new classified program code-named UMBRELLA ROSE. As part of this program, you will each be asked to work with the assessment teams to provide political, economic, and other analyses. We want to ensure we consult across the interagency with country experts to make sure we aren’t missing anything. You will all be contacted by your team leaders based at Langley in the coming days. They can fill you in on more details. Any questions?”
    “I’m with OSD Special Projects. What kind of monitoring are you talking about?” asked a young woman.
    “UMBRELLA ROSE will deploy a combination of human intelligence, existing overflight capabilities, plus new technological advancements that are being field-tested now by DARPA. Next?”
    “DIA, Western Hemisphere. Are you involving local intelligence and military services?” asked an older man.
    “Negative. The existence of UMBRELLA ROSE is classified as TOP SECRET NO FORN. No foreign intelligence sharing. I repeat, this is TOP SECRET NO FORN. To the extent we notify the authorities of overflight, it will be under alternative civilian-use cover. Next?”
    “I’m with State, S/CRU, the Crisis Reaction Unit,” Judd said. “How will this work with zero local participation?”
    “It’s suboptimal. But operational security