Nuclear plants hurry to tighten security

WASHINGTON -- For decades, security at the nation's nuclear power reactors has focused on commando raids, internal sabotage or possibly a truck bomb. Since the World Trade Center attack, the plants have been put on unprecedented alert.

Operators have hurried to tighten security at the 64 reactor sites. More guards have been posted, security patrols have been added and access to the most sensitive areas has been scaled back.

At 26 military installations, combat aircraft are ready to intercept aircraft that might pose a threat. Federal officials have been reluctant to provide details, but it is assumed those aircraft would be available if a reactor was found to be a target.

Nuclear power plants "are considered part of the homeland defense," Richard Meserve, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in an interview Tuesday. He declined to elaborate.

Utilities and the NRC are in "very close coordination" with the FBI and military, another NRC official said.

May be inadequate

But federal regulators and industry executives acknowledged Tuesday that even all those safeguards may be inadequate to protect against the kind of suicide mission -- accomplished with fuel-laden jetliners -- that marked the recent attacks in New York and Washington.

"It does change the equation," said Meserve.

He added that an across-the-board review of necessary new security measures should "not focus solely on the aircraft threat."

Nuclear critics contend nothing short of military occupation of the plants will provide adequate safety.

"We don't have the luxury of time, given the threat that now has been identified," said Paul Leventhal, president of the Nuclear Control Institute, a Washington-based advocacy group involved in nuclear proliferation issues.

Leventhal argued that National Guard troops should be dispatched to all 103 commercial power reactors in 31 states, followed by other military forces equipped with anti-aircraft weapons.

"There is a security vacuum out there now, a very dangerous vacuum," he insisted.

'Unduly alarming'

Joe Colvin, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry trade group, accused Leventhal of "unduly alarming the American people at this difficult time." He said Leventhal is characterizing the threat to nuclear plants "beyond the bounds of scientific reality."

The nuclear industry is taking every step "to maximize safety at its facilities, both in operations and with regard to potential attack," Colvin said.

Still, the horrific attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have complicated the question of how security responsibilities should be divided between the industry and the federal government.

"We have never had reason to examine the fact that someone would use a large commercial airliner and deal with the threat it might present if it came in at high speed," said Meserve, the NRC chief. He said the commission has directed a broad review of all security related activities and requirements.

Industry officials argue that civilian security forces at nuclear plants were never expected -- and are not obligated -- to deal with an attack of the scope unleashed Sept. 11.

These are viewed as acts of "an enemy of the state" and "something the federal government is responsible for," said Doug Walters, who deals with security issues at the Nuclear Energy Institute.