CNN/Blitzer/The new nuclear threat

[Chuck Cooper <cooperc@teleport.com>]

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/wolf.blitzer.reports/   (Note, link is

temporal)

===============================================

The new nuclear threat



By Wolf Blitzer

CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- How many of us ever anticipated that terrorists

would hijack huge passenger airliners and smash them into the World

Trade Center buildings? The answer, I am certain, is a tiny, tiny

number.

But since September 11, all of us have been forced to rethink our basic

assumptions about terrorism and security. The unthinkable has suddenly

become very thinkable.



That is now the case when it comes to the nation's more than 80 nuclear

power plants. Most of them are along the East Coast and a big number are



centered in the heavily populated Northeast. Now, four U.S. lawmakers

have come forward with proposals to strengthen security around those

facilities.



Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Joe

Lieberman (D-Conn) and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass) have proposed

legislation that would update security surrounding those power plants.

"The tragedy of September 11 taught us many things," Reid said. "It

taught

us the importance of first responders. It taught us the vulnerability of

our

nation's buildings and strength of our nation's resolve. And I guess,

finally,

it taught us that we must be prepared for today's threats because they

could

become tomorrow's attacks."



Their proposed plan would protect nuclear power plants

from attack by strengthening security forces around those

plants. It would harden the physical infrastructure of the

plants so that they might better withstand an attack. It would also

review emergency response capabilities in case of an actual

attack.



How serious is this threat to the nation's nuclear power plants?

How worried should we be? I put those questions to Gary Millhollin

of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a group that works

to limit the spread of nuclear weapons around the world. I have known

Gary for many years and can attest that he's very knowledgeable about

these issues.



"We just learned because of September 11 that the threat is much greater



than we thought," he told me. "These plants are not designed to

withstand a

crash by a kamikaze attack of an airlinerÉWe didn't even have big

airliners

at the time a lot of these plants were designed."



He says the plants aren't even designed to withstand an attack by a

large

number of commandos. "Only a small group of commandos is in what's

called the design basis for the plant," he says. "So we are going to

have to

look at what we are doing with a new light."



I asked Gary if we should simply assume the worst case scenario -- that

a

plane, for example, smashing into one of those plants could cause a huge



nuclear explosion, including the deadly spread of radiation. "We don't

know that for sure," he replied. "It would depend how the plane hits the



plant, whether it was accelerating, whether it hit it in the right

place, whether

a lot of what's called the nuclear inventory gets out or whether it

doesn't.

And, you know, we have never taken a nuclear plant and blown it up to

see

what would happen. You can't do that. So we really don't know what the

effects would be."



All of these issues are clearly worth pursuing in this new

post-September

11 era.



Today, on both editions of Wolf Blitzer Reports, we will take a close

look

at all the latest developments in the war against terrorism. There are

new

details on the spread of anthrax through the mail in Connecticut.



On our 5 p.m. (EST) program, we will air excerpts from an interview that



our Bob Novak and Al Hunt did today with Defense Secretary Donald

Rumsfeld. That complete interview will air on their program, Novak, Hunt



and Shields, tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.



On our 5 p.m. program, we will also look back on the legacy of George

Harrison of the Beatles who died yesterday. I grew up in the sixties

with

the Beatles and have always loved their music. Today we pay tribute to

Harrison.



On our 7 p.m. (EST) program in the CNN War Room, we will get back to

the war in Afghanistan. On my panel tonight: Frank Gaffney, a former

Pentagon official; Richard Murphy, a former U.S. State Department

official and ambassador; and Mansoor Ijaz, an expert on the region.



Click here to send your questions to my guests in the War Room.



And this programming note: Sunday on our special three-hour Late

Edition, Secretary of State Colin Powell will be among my guests. That's



Sunday at noon Eastern.



Thanks again.



Have a wonderful weekend.



Wolf Blitzer























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