Nuclear Emergency Support Team The Nuclear Emergency Support Team ( NEST ) ( formerly known as the Nuclear Emergency Search Team ) is a team of scientists , technicians , and engineers operating under the United States Department of Energy ' s National Nuclear Security Administration ( NNSA ) . Their task is to be " prepared to respond immediately to any type of radiological accident or incident anywhere in the world " . History . Concerns over scenarios involving nuclear accidents or incidents on American soil are not recent ; as early as the 1960s , officials were concerned that a nuclear weapon might be smuggled into the country , or that a nuclear - weapon equipped airplane might crash and contaminate surrounding areas . In late 1974 , President Gerald R . Ford was warned that the FBI received a communication from an extortionist wanting $ 200 , 000 . It was claimed that a nuclear weapon had been placed somewhere in Boston , so a team of experts rushed in with scientists from the U . S . Atomic Energy Commission . Unfortunately their radiation detection gear arrived at a different airport ; federal officials then rented a fleet of vans to carry concealed radiation detectors around the city , but forgot to bring the tools they needed to install the equipment . As one of the researchers commented , " if they were counting on us to save the good folk of Boston . . . well it was bye - bye Boston . " The incident was found to be a hoax . However , the government ' s fumbling response made clear the need for an agency capable of effectively responding to such threats in the future . President Gerald R . Ford formed the Nuclear Emergency Search Team ( NEST ) , which by the 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 " , later that year to provide technical support and assistance to the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) . Today . According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists , NEST has the ability to deploy as many as 600 people to the scene of a radiological incident , though deployments do not usually exceed 45 people . NEST has a variety of equipment ( weighing up to 150 tons ) , and has the support of a small fleet of aircraft which includes four helicopters and three airplanes , all outfitted with detection equipment . When an airborne response to an incident is underway , the Federal Aviation Administration grants NEST flights a higher control priority within the United States National Airspace System , designated with the callsign " FLYNET " . Capabilities . Since 1975 , NEST has been warned of 125 nuclear terror threats and has responded to 30 . All have been false alarms . While it is common belief that NEST does not have the technology to accurately detect nuclear threats within the noise of natural radiation , in fact , it has had the capability to distinguish between manmade and natural radiation since the ' 70s . At first , there were still some problems with this simple distinction — manmade radiation also includes such things as medical radiation . A man under treatment for Graves ' disease with radioactive iodine set off alarms in the New York City subway . After being strip - searched and interrogated he was sent on his way . Since its initial creation , however , the equipment has been improved multiple times and now , data can be processed accurately to be used to hone in on the activity of any single nuclear element desired .