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lochbaum on nrc website
Hi Radsafers, below is UCS's letter to NRC on why NRC closed down most of the website.
norm
>
> October 30, 2001
>
> Mr. Hubert Bell
> Inspector General
> United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
> Washington, DC 20555-0001
>
> SUBJECT: ALLEGATION OF UNFAIR NRC ACTIONS
>
> Dear Mr. Bell:
>
> On or about October 11, 2001, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission essentially pulled the plug on the public's access to information by shutting down the NRC's website and ADAMS. UCS is troubled by the unfair manner in which the NRC excluded the public from the regulatory process. When Dr. Edwin Lyman questioned the NRC during the October 18th stakeholder meeting about the rationale for urging rather than ordering licensees to increase security in the wake of September 11th, Commissioner McGaffigan interrupted to remark that he was offended. Commissioner McGaffigan went on to explain that the NRC would have had to bring in its lawyers to process considerable paperwork before it could legally issue an order and that the Commission had opted for the swifter process of making recommendations. The Commissioner's explanation is consistent with that provided by Chairman Meserve to Representative Edward J. Markey in his letter dated October 15, 2001.
>
> If we properly understand the circumstances, the NRC pulled the plug on public access to information because of a fear that terrorists might find material that could aid them carry out a successful attack on a nuclear facility. In other words, the plug was pulled to thwart radiological sabotage. But "radiological sabotage" is defined in 10 CFR 73.1 as:
>
> * A determined violent external assault, attack by stealth, or deceptive actions, of several persons with the following attributes, assistance and equipment: (a) well-trained (including military training and skills) and dedicated individuals, (b) inside assistance which may include a knowledgeable individual who attempts to participate in a passive role (e.g., provide information), an active role (e.g., facilitate entrance and exit, disable alarms and communications, participate in violent attack), or both, (c) suitable weapons, up to and including hand-held automatic weapons, equipped with silencers and having effective long range accuracy, (d) hand-carried equipment, including incapacitating agents and explosives for use as tools of entry or for otherwise destroying reactor, facility, transporter, or container integrity or features of the safeguards system, and (e) a four-wheel drive land vehicle used for transporting personnel and their hand-carried equipment to the proxi!
mity of vital areas, and
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> * An internal threat of an insider, including an employee (in any position), and
>
> * A four-wheel drive land vehicle bomb.
>
> Pulling the plug could not possibly have altered the risk from the first bullet since the "determined violent external assault" is assumed to be assisted by a knowledgeable insider. This insider would not be impaired by the NRC pulling the plug.
>
> Pulling the plug could not possibly have altered the risk from an internal threat. Again, the insider would not be impaired by the NRC pulling the plug.
>
> Pulling the plug is extremely unlikely to significantly alter the risk from the four-wheel drive land vehicle bomb. Building identifications and locations are readily available such as in the emergency planning calendars distributed by plant owners annually to thousands of people.
>
> So, the NRC's actions had absolutely no material hope of lessening the risk of radiological sabotage from the regulated threats. However, the plug being pulled could reduce the risk of radiological sabotage from a new, previously unregulated threat: namely, a "determined violent external assault" unaided by a knowledgeable insider. Material from the NRC website would assist the external attackers instead of the information provided by the knowledgeable insider.
>
> Consequently, the NRC apparently decided NOT to bring in its lawyers to process considerable paperwork so 10 CFR Part 73 could be revised to include this new Design Basis Threat. To be consistent with its logic for recommending that plant owners increase security, the NRC should have posted a recommendation on its website that the material not be used to plan radiological sabotage. Instead, the NRC pulled the plug and left the public without access to information. All of the niceties that Chairman Meserve and Commissioner McGaffigan cited as slowing down the process were not applicable since it was only the public involved. Once again, the NRC used its regulations to shield the industry and ignored its regulations to sacrifice the public.
>
> We know that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has investigated and substantiated allegations that the NRC provided differential treatment to the nuclear industry at expense of the public. Consequently, we are not asking that OIG document yet another such abuse by this rogue agency. Instead, we are merely asking that if the OIG audits NRC on achieving its four stated objectives, you record our vote as being NO for "improving public confidence." Weblite and the underhanded process used to inflict Weblite on an unsuspecting public has not improved our confidence.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> David A. Lochbaum
> Nuclear Safety Engineer
> Union of Concerned Scientists
> Washington Office
>
> ??
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> October 30, 2001
> Page 2 of 2
>
> Washington Office: 1707 H Street NW Suite 600 ( Washington DC 20006-3919 ( 202-223-6133 ( FAX: 202-223-6162
> Cambridge Headquarters: Two Brattle Square ( Cambridge MA 02238-9105 ( 617-547-5552 ( FAX: 617-864-9405
> California Office: 2397 Shattuck Avenue Suite 203 ( Berkeley CA 94704-1567 ( 510-843-1872 ( FAX: 510-843-3785
--
Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8537 or 609-601-8583 (8583: fax, answer machine); ncohen12@home.com UNPLUG SALEM WEBSITE: http://www.unplugsalem.org/ COALITION FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE WEBSITE: http:/www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org The Coalition for Peace and Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.
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