- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Guards
at the nation's 103 nuclear power plants are overworked, undertrained and
outgunned and some of them doubt they could repel a terrorist attack, a
study by a government watchdog group said on Thursday.
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- Interviews with 22 guards at 13 U.S. nuclear power plants
revealed many had doubts about preparedness and training, the Project on
Government Oversight reported.
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- The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),
which is rethinking industry security guidelines in the wake of last year's
deadly attacks on Washington and New York, criticized the study for relying
on "a very thin sample" of the 6,000 guards posted at U.S. nuclear
plants.
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- Almost a year to the day after the attacks, the NRC on
Tuesday advised nuclear plant operators to boost their security levels
after the government issued a general alert for a possible terrorist attack.
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- Al Qaeda, the Islamic extremist network Washington blames
for the hijack attacks, may have singled out U.S. nuclear power plants
as a possible target.
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- "It is prudent to assume that al Qaeda may consider
nuclear facilities as potential targets," NRC Chairman Richard Meserve
said at an industry event on Wednesday.
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- The non-profit watchdog group said it found nuclear plant
owners have ordered only minimal increases in the number of guards, and
are relying heavily on overtime for existing guards rather than hiring
new ones.
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- Some guards interviewed by the advocacy group said they
worked 12-hour shifts for up to six consecutive days. Most guards interviewed
"believe that they are still below adequate levels to defeat a real
terrorist attack," the group said.
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- "If an attack took place, most of the guards would
run like hell," one guard told the group in an interview.
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- Guards said they were plagued by fatigue during long
and tedious night shifts. "There's a major problem with guards sleeping,
especially on the night shift," one guard said.
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- GUARDS WORKING 'EXTENSIVE OVERTIME'
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- Meserve acknowledged that some U.S. utilities have used
"extensive overtime" to maintain security while they carry out
"extensive new hiring" of guards as part of a post-Sept. 11 push
to boost security.
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- With a total of 6,000 guards at U.S. nuclear facilities,
the report used "a very thin sample in which to draw very profound
conclusions," Meserve told reporters.
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- "The security at nuclear plants is very strong and
the plants have the inherent capacity to withstand severe events of all
types including those that might be attempted by terrorists," Meserve
said.
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- The Project for Government Oversight defended its report.
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- "The vast majority of the concerns the guards raise
ring absolutely true," said researcher Pete Stockton. "They believe
they don't have a chance" against an attack, he said.
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- The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry lobby, called
the report "an insult to the 6,000 highly trained, well-armed security
officers" defending nuclear plants.
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- Most guards interviewed by the advocacy group said they
practice firing their weapons only once or twice a year during annual qualification
tests, far less than the time necessary to become and remain proficient,
the report said.
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- Guards also told the group they did not feel adequately
equipped to deal with attackers. Many guards have only shotguns while attackers
would likely be armed with sophisticated assault rifles, grenades and automatic
weapons, Stockton said.
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- In the event of an attack, plant guards "would be
seriously outgunned, and won't have a chance," one told the group.
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- Some Democrats have sought to impose tougher security
at nuclear power plants. "Nuclear power plants are at the very top
of the target list and their security must be permanently upgraded,"
said Rep. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat backing legislation to
give guards authority to use deadly force against attackers.
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