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RE: nuke guards undertrained; overworked
This may be true; I have no assurances to the contrary. However, Norm, is
it not true that if these guards were equipped and trained to be what
amounts to a paramilitary force, wouldn't the anti-nuclear groups be
squealing like a gelded pig about _that_? Damned if we do and damned if we
don't.
It should be noted that this data came from the security forces themselves,
and I've never heard of a guard complaining about being over-armed or
over-trained. Every one I've ever met thought they needed more/bigger guns.
(What was that? I think Freud's ghost just chuckled.) It's their mindset.
Dave Neil
neildm@id.doe.gov
-----Original Message-----
From: Norman Cohen [mailto:ncohen12@comcast.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 7:15 AM
To: Know_Nukes@yahoogroups.com; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu
Subject: nuke guards undertrained; overworked
Daniel Wolff wrote:
> September 12, 2002
>
> U.S. Nuclear Guards Said Overworked, Undertrained
>
> By REUTERS
>
> Filed at 0:08 a.m. ET
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> ``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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> ``If an attack took place, most of the guards would run like hell,''
> one guard told the group in an interview.
>
> 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.
>
> GUARDS WORKING 'EXTENSIVE OVERTIME'
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> ``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.
>
> The Project for Government Oversight defended its report.
>
> ``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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> In the event of an attack, plant guards ``would be seriously
> outgunned, and won't have a chance,'' one told the group.
>
> 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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--
Coalition for Peace and Justice and the UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr
Ave., Linwood, NJ 08221; 609-601-8583 or 609-601-8537;
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Justice is a chapter of Peace Action.
"First they ignore you; Then they laugh at you; Then they fight you;
Then you win. (Gandhi) "Why walk when you can fly?" (Mary Chapin
Carpenter)
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