If you live in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, breath a huge sigh of relief because you were this close to being turned into a huge crater of radiated nuclear waste.
A Knoxville, TN, News station reported that three guards protecting the Department of Energy’s Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge were suspended for bringing a PlayStation Portable into a highly restricted area of the facility.
According to 10 News (via Joystiq), Wackenhut Services spokeswoman Courtney Henry confirmed on Wednesday that there had been an incident at the Y-12 weapon plant three weeks earlier. Three security police officers were caught bringing the video game device into the plant’s “protected area,” an area where even mobile phones are not allowed, and have been suspended without pay.
In the facility’s “protected area,” nuclear warheads are constructed, dismantled and recycled.
The PlayStation Portable is described in the report as a machine with “transmission capability.”
Sony’s portable gaming device has a built in 802.11b wireless card that allows it to either connect to other PSP’s for local network gaming, or to connect to a wireless network for online multiplayer gaming or Internet surfing access.
Obviously, the main reason why the three guards were suspended was because the PlayStation Portable could allow them to pass on classified information.
However, it’s “transmission capability” also means that the PSP could potentially wreck havoc on the plant’s machinery. Any device that transmits a signal can interfere with other electronic devices around it, and things not going the way they should is probably a less than ideal scenario at a location that routinely works on weapons that could destroy the planet.
Though the chances of a PSP accidentally triggering one of the plant’s nuclear warheads seems pretty remote, evidently someone thought even a small chance was still a little too much for their liking.
How exactly the guards were able to bring PlayStation Portables into the heart of the nuclear facility is unknown, but the plant has since issued new rules that require guards to check in their personal bags before entering the “protected area.”
Similarly, while flying on airplanes, airlines ask passengers not to use devices that transmit wireless signals because it can interfere with the aircraft. Though PlayStation Portables are still allowed on board airplanes, flicking on the device’s wireless switch could potentially result in the pilot getting inaccurate readings from their instruments.
Subsequently, that could cause the plane to fall out of the sky, so it is normally highly advised to refrain from playing games online until after the plane has set down and come to a complete stop.
Our Take
Clearly your gaming addiction has gone a little too far once you jeopardize the lives of hundreds of thousands of people just so you can play some more video games. Good job, guys!
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