Police arrested a University of Utah student who allegedly threatened on social media to detonate a nuclear reactor located on campus if the Utes football team lost a big game against San Diego State. Fortunately, the Utes won because there is a nuclear reactor in one of the school's engineering buildings. It's occasionally used for research and teaching. According to police, the suspect, "is aware of where the reactor is located and attends class in the same building where the reactor is housed." From KSL.com:
…The university released a statement regarding the arrest, saying that even though the student claimed her comments were a joke, the school has "a zero-tolerance policy for these kinds of threats."
University of Utah police also noted that the school's nuclear reactor "is secured and alarmed and police have unique protocols for managing any breach of the facility."
From the New York Times:
The university is among 24 colleges and universities that operate research and test nuclear reactors on campus as part of their engineering programs. These reactors, also known as nonpower reactors, are primarily used for research, training and development, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency that oversees nuclear capabilities in the United States. There are 31 research and test nuclear reactors in the country.
