That's Outrageous

“If I were a Middle Eastern saboteur or some terrorist, I wouldn't go after a nuclear power plant. First of all, they don't know what they are.” from a member of the NRC's independent Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards during a security meeting. --- In 1995, a part time arms dealer employed at the Trojan Nuclear Plant stored 7 pallets of ammunition, 7 SKS semi-automatic rifles and a .380 pistol in a building at the plant. A guard was posted at the building until everything was removed. --- Roy Zimmerman, director of the NRC's Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response stated to security critics at an August 4, 2004 public meeting at NRC headquarters that the Emergency Drill at Indian Point demonstrated that they can handle a "wide range of aircraft threats". But, the June 8, 2004 simulated attack had the 767 only crashing into transformers in the switchyard and not vital buildings or equipment. This is the same distortion that the NRC is using to provide false assurances to legislators. This public meeting was assembled to ask the public how the NRC could gain the confidence and trust of citizens. Just before the meeting began, the NRC announced for the first time a five month old decision to institute a total blackout of regulatory oversight data on security matters! The NRC has dragged its feet for decades when it comes to closing security gaps. Now they are trying to hide their lack of oversight and remedy. --- The NRC's investigation of the 1993 TMI intrusion never examined what could have happened if the intruder was hostile. When the chairman of the NRC asked Sam Collins (head of the NRC's Incident Investigation Team) about TMI's ability to prevent sabotage by the intruder or what damage could have been done, Collins answered that they had not looked at that. Despite finding more than 40 problems with the responses that were made, Collins found that TMI had responded appropriately. Collins was promoted and responsible for allowing the Davis Besse reactor to operate despite overwhelming evidence that a serious problem had developed. The reactor had a hole in its side and was getting close to a serious accident. --- Five Austin police officers were supposed to be protecting a Central Texas power plant against possible terrorism, but went fishing instead. The officers were assigned to patrol the plant as part of the Homeland Defense unit. They had been fishing at the plant while on duty for about a year. They continued to fish despite warnings to stop. Company guards allowed other police officers to fish at the plant as a favor to the police. The officers were suspended in November 2003. --- A twin engine jet flew over the Seabrook reactor buildings repeatedly in 1995. The jet was only 500 feet above the plant. It turned out the jet belonged to Raytheon which was doing thermal imaging. Raytheon failed to inform Seabrook. --- The drunken pilot terrorized the airways with his erratic flying for nearly four hours on January 15th, 2004 by circling the Limerick nuclear plant and buzzing Philadelphia International Airport. --- A crazed Chicagoan, swearing to be an extraterrestrial alien, crashed his car through the gates of the Braidwood nuclear facility on the evening of December 10, 2002 before speeding away only to be arrested for reckless driving in Wilmington minutes later. The intruder penetrated the parking area by crashing through closed gates, flashing past a plant checkpoint and then doing "donuts" in the parking lot. --- January 9, 2002 - A well-armed, disgruntled former employee at the San Onfore nuclear power plant in San Clemente was arrested for making threats against the plant. --- About a month after the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island, control room operators at the Surry plant in Virginia poured sodium hydroxide onto new fuel assemblies. The fuel was stored in an area which was locked and alarmed. The NRC notified other plants that the FBI was on-site conducting an extensive investigation. They also warned that this incident "could possibly provoke similar behavior on the part of other persons." It turns out that two control room operators sabotaged the fuel to protest nuclear plant safety! --- On April 15 2003, two security guards at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station fell asleep at their checkpoint. The guards were on their tenth hour of a twelve hour shift. --- A man who scaled an eight-foot-high security fence at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station told police he didn't know he had been trespassing. Security officers caught the California Man, shortly after he scaled the fence at the nuclear facility on August 2, 2004. --- At the Quad Cities nuclear plant in 1994, a worker swiped a radioactive source of Strontium-90 and placed it in the rear pocket of a female worker.

This page updated by Three Mile Island Alert August 2004