NUCLEAR CONTROL INSTITUTE
COMMITTEE
TO BRIDGE THE GAP
Washington, D.C.
Los
Angeles, CA
CONTACT: Paul Leventhal 202-822-8444
CONTACT:
Dan Hirsch 831-462-6136
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, December 23, 1999
WATCHDOG
GROUPS REVEAL NRC'S MISGUIDED MILLENNIAL MESSAGE
TO
REACTOR OPERATORS: `DON'T UPGRADE DEFENSES AGAINST TERRORISTS'
In an unannounced "advisory" sent to operators of the nation's
103 nuclear power reactors, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sees no
need to upgrade defenses against terrorist attack during the immediate millennial
period, prompting a strong letter of protest today
by the Nuclear Control Institute and the Committee to Bridge the Gap.
"Given the unique devastation that would result from the release
of the intensely radioactive contents of the core of a one-billion-watt nuclear
power plant in the event of a meltdown caused by sabotage, it is inexplicable
that the only major Federal agency not increasing security against terrorists
during the millennial period is the NRC," the two watchdog groups wrote
to NRC Chairman Richard Meserve after learning of the advisory.
NCI President Paul Leventhal and CBG President Daniel Hirsch called on
Meserve to countermand the advisory sent by NRC staff to power reactor operators
on December 21, and instead order operators to activate contingency plans against
attack. At a minimum, they said,
plant operators should be required to increase the size of guard forces and
the frequency of armed patrols, upgrade vehicle barrier systems, and suspend
non-essential visits and deliveries.
The NRC refused to release a copy of the non-classified staff advisory
when asked by Nuclear Control Institute and the Committee to Bridge the Gap.
"NRC staff responsible for the advisory have told us the advisory
states that in the absence of any intelligence information of a specific threat
against nuclear plants or materials, there is no need for licensees to escalate
security precautions at nuclear power plants," Leventhal and Hirsch wrote
to Meserve. "We also were
told the advisory states the NRC will remain in contact with intelligence authorities
and will pass on any new information to licensees."
In their letter, they said "the logic behind this advisory defies
common sense" as well as the Commission's own formal guidance against over-reliance
on prior warning from the U.S. intelligence community.
They noted that major attacks like the ones on New York City's World
Trade Center and Oklahoma City's federal building came without warning.
They also cautioned that due to deficiencies in NRC regulations, nuclear
power plants "are potentially vulnerable to large-scale truck-bomb attacks,
and nearly half of these plants have failed to repel mock terrorist attacks."
"To our knowledge," they wrote, "there is now no known
specific threat against any domestic target in the United States, yet
officials at all governmental levels (with the apparent exception of the NRC)
are acting prudently to beef up security at critical infrastructure facilities
against what they fear is a greater likelihood of terrorist attack associated
with Y2K." They also cited
the recent arrest at U.S.-Canada border crossings of suspected terrorists, one
of them transporting high explosives, and the recent arrest of a militia group
leader accused of planning to blow up a power reactor in Florida with stolen
explosives, as reasons for "heightened concern by the NRC."
The full text of the letter can be downloaded from NCI's Website (www.nci.org/c/c122399.htm).
Copies of the letter were sent to President Clinton and his senior advisor on
critical infrastructure and counterterrorism, the director of the FBI's new
counterterrorism, Meserve's fellow NRC commissioners, and senior members of
Congress responsible for overseeing the NRC.
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