Terrorism challenges nuclear plant security

ONE NATION

Terrorism challenges nuclear plant security

By DAVE FLESSNER
STAFF WRITER

When U.S. troops drove Osama bin Laden's operatives from their Afghanistan camps last year, they discovered an ominous handbook that brought the terrorist threat home to the Tennessee Valley.

A training manual for members of the terror network listed as attack targets American nuclear power plants such as the Sequoyah plant near Soddy-Daisy and the Watts Bar plant near Spring City.

Security officials for the Tennessee Valley Authority, which operates the two nuclear units in Tennessee and another in Alabama, insist they are prepared for such an attack. But opponents of nuclear power remain skeptical.

"Nuclear power plants probably had the most security of any industrial sites in the country before 9-11, and we've done a tremendous amount to increase security in the past year," said Rob Beecken, vice president of nuclear support at TVA. "We take nuclear safety and security very seriously, and we think we've taken very prudent steps to protect our facilities."

In the past year, TVA increased the number of plant guards by 30 percent, limited access on plant sites and installed additional physical barriers to block vehicle access. At the Sequoyah plant, workers and visitors who previously were able to drive up to the reactor building unescorted and park their cars at plant parking lots now are required to pass through a guard station outside the plant site. Pinkerton Government Services security personnel inspect each vehicle and patrol the perimeter of the plant site around the clock.

Within its nuclear plants, TVA has added more electronic surveillance and inspections for anyone entering plant or reactor buildings. Also, the utility has expanded background checks on employees and contractors who work in the nuclear plants.

TVA officials said they have met all the additional security measures required to be installed by Aug. 31 under a directive from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency responsible for the safety of nuclear facilities.

"Nuclear power plants have far greater capacity to be able to defend themselves than nearly anything else in the civilian world," NRC Chairman Richard Meserve said this summer. "The bottom line is that we have what I believe to be responsible security measures in place at nuclear power plants."

Critics, however, contend there still may be cracks in the wall of nuclear plant security.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which initially blocked any flight activity over nuclear plants after the Sept. 11 attacks, lifted the ban in late 2001.

"It has been shown that nuclear power plants are not designed to withstand a large jetliner attack like the one on Sept. 11," said Sara Barczak, safe energy director for Georgians for Clean Energy. "The fact that we no longer have protected air space around nuclear plants is a real cause for concern, for not only reactor containment buildings but for spent fuel ponds and other facilities with potentially dangerous materials."

The FAA continues to monitor suspicious flight activity near nuclear plants.

"Nuclear reactor buildings are only a few hundred feet off the ground and would be extraordinarily difficult to hit from the air," Mr. Beecken said. "It's important to also remember that these facilities are built with reinforced concrete and are designed to withstand everything from earthquakes to hurricanes."

Before Sept. 11, 2001, the NRC conducted mock drills to test whether plant security forces would deter an armed attack. In the 17 months before the suspension of the Operational Safeguards Response Evaluations, the mock attackers were able to get into the reactor building to do damage in nine of the 59 drills, according to NRC Commissioner Edward McGaffigan Jr.

"Those tests were announced in advance and only included a small armed attack group, which no longer seems realistic in light of the events of Sept. 11," Mr. Lyman said. "To really see if all of these extra security measures will effectively work or not, they need to be tested. Until then, there is still a lot of question just how vulnerable these plants are to terrorist attacks."