Report Claims Nuclear Power Plants Safe from Terrorist Attacks

by Jim Kouri, CPP [The following is taken from an indepth report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police.] An unclassified version of the National Academy of Sciences study on the safety and security of used nuclear fuel at US nuclear power plants was recently submitted to federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and organizations. When read in their totality, the National Academy of Sciences study and the response to it by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission further validate what is already widely acknowledged by independent experts -- namely that nuclear power plants have long been the best protected facilities in our nation's industrial infrastructure. The industry since September 2001 has invested $1 billion-plus in security improvements at our power plants, including used fuel storage facilities, to make them more secure than ever. To the extent that the study's worst-case scenarios lead the NAS to suggest that some nuclear power plants might take even more steps to reduce even further the low probability that an attack on used fuel storage facilities could cause a substantial release of radiation, the report offers five observations: 1)The NAS report does not recommend unloading of used fuel from storage pools into dry storage containers. 2)As directed by the NRC, nuclear power plants are assessing the potential to effectively augment already-redundant safety systems to ensure cooling of used fuel assemblies in the fuel pools. This is consistent with the NAS recommendations and is above and beyond the first series of protective measures that the NRC ordered in 2002. 3)The NRC's response to NAS states clearly that, even after conducting additional risk analyses, it "considers the likelihood of a zirconium fire capable of causing large releases of radiation to the environment to be extremely low." 4)Computer modeling on aircraft impacts conducted by EPRI in 2002 confirmed the strength of used fuel storage facilities, and the worst-case scenario approach taken by the NAS on events with very low probability does not lend itself to informed decision-making by policymakers. State-of-the-art computer modeling techniques applied in the EPRI aircraft study determined that typical nuclear plant containment structures, used fuel storage pools, fuel storage containers, and used fuel transportation containers at US nuclear power plants would withstand these impact forces despite some concrete crushing and bent steel. 5)The nation needs to appreciate that the best way to protect the nation's entire critical infrastructure, which includes nuclear facilities, is to place a high priority on prevention of airliner attacks by terrorist organizations. It is far more effective, and less costly to the nation, to prevent attacks rather than try to protect the entire critical infrastructure. As a nation, the US has taken several steps to do so, including screening passengers, deploying air marshals, hardening cockpit doors and increasing passenger awareness. Sources: National Academy of Sciences, National Association of Chiefs of Police Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country. He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others. He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores.