Lapses seen in nuclear security

By Chris Baltimore, Reuters, 9/25/2003

WASHINGTON -- A nonpartisan congressional watchdog group criticized yesterday the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's oversight of power plant security measures, citing lapses at metal detectors, sleeping guards, and unrealistic attack drills that feature toy rubber guns.

The General Accounting Office said the NRC needs to improve security at the nation's 103 operating nuclear plants to protect against a possible terrorist attack.

The report was requested by two Democrats, Representatives John D. Dingell of Michigan and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, to examine how well the federal agency is overseeing nuclear power plants since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington. Markey is a longtime critic of nuclear plant safety standards.

Lawmakers are considering some nuclear security measures in an energy bill that Republican leaders want to finalize by the middle of next month.

According to the GAO report, NRC inspectors have downplayed a variety of security lapses discovered during routine inspections as "noncited violations."

In one instance, an NRC inspector found a guard asleep on duty, but the incident was not flagged for concern because guards at the plant had not been found sleeping more than twice during the year, the GAO report said.

In another, guards gave a person unescorted access to sensitive plant sites after after he set off both an automated and hand-held metal detector, and they did not perform a manual search.

According to the GAO, the federal agency issued 72 such noncited security violations from 2000 to 2001, compared with none the previous year.

"By making extensive use of noncited violations for serious problems, NRC may overstate the level of security at a power plant and reduce the likelihood that needed improvements are made," the GAO said.

In a written statement included in the report, NRC chairman Nils Diaz said it "does not provide an appropriately balanced or very useful perspective" on the NRC's security efforts.

The GAO also found weaknesses in how nuclear regulators conduct "force-on-force" exercises at nuclear plants. The NRC began conducting the exercises in 1991 but suspended them in 2001.

Though the exercises have been touted as realistic combat simulations, the GAO found that plants staffed extra personnel to improve their response during mock attacks and used "unrealistic weapons" such as rubber guns.

Additionally, NRC officials said plant operators were given a year's warning of the exercises and were permitted to boost their guard force.

Of 80 drills conducted, at least 45 were at plants where operators gave plant defenders extra training or added extra security measures, the GAO said.

The NRC is restructuring its exercise program and has begun a series of pilot tests meant to be more rigorous, the GAO said.