Statement Regarding Thermite: Part 1

In Response to some issues raised in

Question 12 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Fact Sheet Concerning The Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disasteri

By Robert Moore, Esq.

January 12, 2007

On August 30, 2006 a taxpayer funded entity known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published responses to what they deemed “frequently asked questions” regarding the demise of World Trade Center building 1, 2 and 7.ii

I will briefly examine some of the issues raised in question number 12 of the institute’s response. The factors I will examine are in bold and underlined.

NIST’s question 12:

12. Did the NIST investigation look for evidence of the WTC towers being brought down by controlled demolition? Was the steel tested for explosives or thermite residues? The combination of thermite and sulfur (called thermate) "slices through steel like a hot knife through butter."

NIST did not test for the residue of these compounds in the steel.

The responses to questions number 2, 4, 5 and 11 demonstrate why NIST concluded that there were no explosives or controlled demolition involved in the collapses of the WTC towers.

Furthermore, a very large quantity of thermite (a mixture of powdered or granular aluminum metal and powdered iron oxide that burns at extremely high temperatures when ignited) or another incendiary compound would have had to be placed on at least the number of columns damaged by the aircraft impact and weakened by the subsequent fires to bring down a tower. Thermite burns slowly relative to explosive materials and can require several minutes in contact with