Nuclear commissioner says plants are secure
Mar 06 - The News & Observer
By John Murawski, The News and Observer, Raleigh, N.C.
One of the nation's top nuclear regulators said Friday that the
country's 64 nuclear plants are safe from terrorist attack.
The comments by Commissioner Dale Klein of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission fly in the face of allegations by nuclear opponents that
nuclear plants are sitting ducks for terrorist operatives. Klein,
speaking in Raleigh at the Summit on the National Academy of
Engineering, urged against requiring further security measures at
nuclear plants.
"Even before the terrorist attacks, nuclear power plants and other
nuclear facilities were some of the most fortified civilian facilities
in the country," Klein said. "In most instances, the U.S. nuclear
industry has reached a level of security such that additional
requirements would not substantially improve overall security."
The nearest nuclear plant is the Shearon Harris facility, about
25 miles southwest of Raleigh. The plant has one reactor and has
operated since 1986. Progress Energy, the plant's operator, has applied
to the NRC for federal licenses to add two reactors to the site.
Nuclear critics have unsuccessfully attempted to use the potential of
terrorist threats to block attempts by Progress Energy and other power
companies to extend nuclear plant licenses and obtain licenses for new
reactors.
"It's that kind of complacent attitude that's the biggest threat," said
Edwin Lyman, senior staff scientists at the Union of Concerned
Scientists, a nuclear watchdog organization. "We know there's still an
active threat against U.S. infrastructure."
Details on nuclear plant safety have been classified since the attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001. Nuclear plants were required to upgrade security
measures, and the plants are patrolled by paramilitary guards. The NRC
has carried out mock invasions of nuclear plants in force-on-force
exercises to train armed guards and spot weaknesses in the plants'
defenses.
Klein is the former chairman of the NRC and also worked for five years
at the Pentagon as assistant to the secretary of defense for Nuclear,
Chemical and Biological Defense Programs.
Klein said the NRC is under continued pressure to reduce the security
risks at nuclear plants. But at least one security upgrade at the plants
has backfired, he said.
After 9/11 nuclear plants were required to install bullet-proof
enclosures as fighting positions to repel an attack inside the plant.
Klein blamed the enclosures for guards falling asleep on the job.
"Let's be honest," Klein said. "If you were isolated in a small room
with little ventilation and only small slits to use to view the outside
world, you would likely grow bored and inattentive, too."
Two electric utilities were fined in recent years after NRC
investigations found that guards napped on the job.
The NRC also investigated similar allegations at the Shearon Harris
nuclear plant in 2007 but did not substantiate the claims.
Progress spokesman Mike Hughes said the company takes measures to make
sure guards remain alert.
Hughes said the guards are rotated and receive radio calls. The guards
also wear motion sensors that sound an alert if they remain motionless
for a certain period of time.
john.murawski@newsobserver.com or 919-829-8932
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