ALERT: :Gaping Lapses in
Security at Nuclear Reactors
Fri Oct 14, 2005 02:22
64.140.158.44
THIS IS WHAT YOU BOUGHT WITH $87 BILLION BUDGET AT
HOMELAND SECURITY!!!
EXCLUSIVE:
ABC Investigation Finds:
An ABC News Investigation Has Found That Nuclear Reactors on 25
U.S. College Campuses Lack Security
An ABC News producer went unchallenged as he drove down the road
in a large rental truck and stopped within 50 feet of MIT's
reactor. (ABC News)
Oct. 12, 2005 — A four-month ABC News investigation found gaping
security holes at many of the little-known nuclear research
reactors operating on 25 college campuses across the country.
Among the findings: unmanned guard booths, a guard who appeared
to be asleep, unlocked building doors and, in a number of cases,
guided tours that provided easy access to control rooms and
reactor pools that hold radioactive fuel.
ABC News found none of the college reactors had metal detectors,
and only two appear to have armed guards. Many of the schools
permit vehicles in close proximity to the reactor buildings
without inspection for explosives.
* Video: Campus Insecurity
http://mfile.akamai.com/16688/wmv/abcondemand.download.akamai.com/16688/free/051013nuclearacess.wmv
* Photos: Meet the Carnegie Fellows
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/popup?id=1081419
* Message Board: Loose Nukes
http://forums.go.com/abcnews/Technology/forum?start=0&forumID=87&byThread=true
Watch the full report on "Primetime" Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.
A spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which
oversees the nation's campus research reactors, said that, based
on the ABC News findings, the agency has opened an investigation
into at least five of the schools.
"The NRC will not hesitate to take strong enforcement action
should we find a violation," said Eliot B. Brenner, director of
the NRC's Office of Public Affairs. The NRC is also reviewing
the adequacy of reactor security plans at other schools as a
result of the ABC News investigation, Brenner said.
But critics in Congress say that the ABC News findings reveal
another area where the NRC has been slow to respond to potential
terrorist threats.
"The security problems exposed here offer yet more evidence
that, four years after 9/11, the NRC has not done nearly enough
to secure our nation's nuclear facilities," said Rep. Edward
Markey, D-Mass., a senior member of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, which oversees the NRC.
Campuses Make Attractive Targets
The campus nuclear research reactors pose an attractive target
for suicide bombers, said Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn.,
chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National
Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations.
"Nuclear research labs are attractive targets for terrorists
determined to turn modern technology against us, and willing to
die while doing so," Shays said. "It's imperative that our
nuclear research facilities have the same stringent security
demands that we require of other federal agencies."
ABC News shared its findings with the schools and the NRC in
advance so that security lapses could be addressed before the
findings were reported publicly.
GOOGLE:
Results 1 - 10 of about 135,000 for ABC RADIOACTIVE ROAD TRIP.
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8am-9am Judith Miller from the New York Times is in the news and Jane Hamsher http://firedoglake.blogspot.com knows more than most about why.
Guest: Jane Hamsher
Subject: Judith Miller, C I A, Valerie Plame, Joseph Wilson, Karl Rove, Media
http://www.charlesgoyette.com/archive/index.cgi?2005-10-13-Charles
