Energy Probe

Prior to September 11th, nuclear facility security requirements in Canada were based on:

An industry expert says the recent Chalk River reactor fiasco is raising doubts that Ontario will purchase new nuclear reactors exclusively from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the federal Crown corporation at the centre of the controversy.

If we're going to have a nuclear reactor in our back yard, McMaster's unit isn't so bad.

"You've got a device that just cannot go boom," says Tom Adams, executive director of Energy Probe, a consumer and environmental research group.

Although there are concerns about what could happen if a terrorist strike targeted a larger nuclear facility, such as Darlington or Pickering, Adams said the damage that could be done at Mac just isn't comparable.

Dear Friend:

The federal government, and three provincial governments, are about to sink billions more dollars into another attempt to salvage the nuclear industry, the country's least economic energy industry – and its most dangerous.

Last month, New Brunswick discovered that its nuclear reactor at Point Lepreau had cracks in its main steam pipe. Cracks in the same piece of equipment at a reactor in Japan just months before had led to an accident that boiled alive four workers and severely scalded seven others.

The business of inspecting nuclear power plants in Ontario is being sold to the private sector, prompting concerns from industry critics about safety standards.

Ontario Power Generation – formerly the power-producing arm of Ontario Hydro – has reached an agreement to sell its inspection services division, a move that has been on the drawing board for months as a means to cut costs and boost profits.

A government investigation into costly delays in restarting several nuclear reactors at Pickering, Ont. - shutdowns that helped create a supply crunch and soaring power prices - will offer little more than finger pointing, critics of the probe said Wednesday.

The inquiry will only further delay work on the project, which would bring about 2,000 megawatts of power back into the province's supply - about 8 per cent of what's needed at peak demand times, an electricity consultant said.

Ottawa's MDS Nordion is creating a tempting target for nuclear terrorists by unnecessarily stockpiling enough highly enriched uranium to build at least one nuclear bomb, says a respected U.S nuclear watchdog group.

Workers not screened for terrorist links, congressman says

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued orders Tuesday to all 104 of the nation's nuclear power plants, upgrading the high-level security measures already in place.

"Some of the requirements formalize a series of security measures that NRC licensees had taken in response to advisories issued by the NRC in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks," the commission said. "Additional security enhancements, which have emerged from the ongoing comprehensive security review, are also spelled out in the orders."

U.S. intelligence agencies have issued an internal alert that Islamic terrorists are planning another spectacular attack to rival those carried out on September 11.

The detailed warning was issued within the past two weeks in a classified report that said one target was a U.S. nuclear power plant or one of the Energy Department's nuclear facilities. The alert was based on sensitive intelligence gathered overseas that revealed discussions among terrorism suspects.

US President says terrorists had diagrams of nuclear power plants;
NRC must move now on major upgrade of security aginst attack

Washington, D.C.---Last night, President Bush disclosed that "diagrams of American nuclear power plants" have been found among the items left by terrorists in Afghanistan, but he failed to announce what measures he will take to prevent these and other plants from being successfully hit, said Paul Leventhal, president of the Nuclear Control Institute.

Security requirements for plants like Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island have barely changed since the 1970s. About 6 p.m. on October 17, five weeks after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, officials at the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) telephoned the control room at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with some chilling information. The intelligence community had intercepted a "credible" threat against the reactor.

Information assessment team advisory update for power reactors, non-power reactors, decommissioning reactors, category I and III fuel facilities, independent spent fuel storage installations, and large material licensees

Subject: update on threat environment -- commercial aircraft

The question immediately arose on September 11 and has persisted: As horrific as the terrorist attacks were, what might have happened if the terrorists who seized jumbo jets and used them as weapons against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had aimed them at nuclear power plants instead? And if more attacks are likely, as government officials have said, are nuclear facilities on the terrorist target list?

The Project on Government Oversight investigates, exposes, and seeks to remedy systemic abuses of power, mismanagement, and subservience by the federal government to powerful special interests.

The following is an edited excerpt from "U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Security At Risk" by the Project On Government Oversight. See POGO's Web site for the full text of this excerpt and the entire report.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A day after a dismissed California nuclear power plant worker was arrested for allegedly threatening colleagues, U.S. power industry officials said he stood few chances of ever delivering those threats on the job. The nuclear power industry, already on high alert following the deadly Sept. 11 attacks, runs its employees through a tough gauntlet of checks aimed at weeding out anyone who might jeopardize plant safety.

OTTAWA (CP) — Canada is unlikely to impose no-fly zones over its nuclear reactors or station missiles around them, a senior nuclear regulatory official says.

In the event of a credible threat to the reactors, Norad would likely be called on to protect them with jet fighters, said Jim Blythe, manager of security review project at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. There's also an ongoing study of engineering and procedural improvements to make the reactors less vulnerable to attack, Blythe said in an interview Thursday.

If terrorists take down nuclear plants, you pay—by the hundreds of billions

Even as the human tragedy of two jets smashing into the World Trade Center tore at the hearts of energy traders, their minds were turned to two things: the oil and the nukes, both seeming suddenly more vulnerable than ever to hostile forces from abroad.

(CNN) -- More than two decades after the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor, the United States is again confronting the fear of an unexpected release of radiation. This time the concern isn't about an accident, but about a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant.

The specter of such a strike has prompted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to take a step many advocates have been demanding for years: supplying potassium iodide pills to people at risk of radiation exposure.

The following news brief appeared at the end of 'Bin Laden in plot to bomb City'

MI5 has warned Ministers that a determined terrorist attempt to fly a jet into the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria could not be prevented because it is only two minutes' flying time from transatlantic flight paths.

The warning came after RAF fighters were scrambled over the plant in response to a reported hijack attempt last month. 'The position is unthinkable,' an intelligence source said. 'By the time you listened to a call reporting a hijack, it could be all over.'

VIENNA (REUTERS) - The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) said last week recent cases of illicit nuclear material trafficking showed the urgent need for better protection and control of radioactive material.

In a report to an IAEA board of governors session attended by U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, the United Nations' atomic watchdog said that with nuclear material subject to national protection meausures, application of regulations remained uneven.

Terrorists deliberately flying an aircraft into the Sellafield nuclear repocessing plant could "wipe out the north of England", a pressure group has told MPs.

Campaigners from Friends of the Earth (FoE) told the Commons' environment committee's inquiry into radioactive waste policy an 11 September-type atrocity could kill 2 million people.

The US terror attacks has led the group to rethink its long-standing insistence that waste must be stored above ground at the Cumbrian plant so it can be constantly monitored.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Arguing that customer costs would increase, an electric trade association in New York opposed a recent effort by environmental groups and local elected officials to shut nuclear power plants due to security concerns, the group said in a statement this week.

BUCHANAN, N.Y. — The federal government should assume responsibility for protecting the country's nuclear power plants to safeguard them from terrorist attack, a group of Democratic members of Congress from New York said today.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Democratic senators said last week they plan to soon introduce legislation that would station federal agents at the nation's 103 nuclear power plants to guard against security threats. Assistant Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York said they would offer the bill when Congress returns from its Thanksgiving holiday. Details about the number of federal planned bill were not immediately available.

OTTAWA (CP) - The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is studying how to "harden" nuclear reactors against possible attack by a hijacked commercial aircraft.

The new efforts go beyond measures already introduced such as on-site armed guards at nuclear stations, barriers to prevent crash attacks by surface vehicles and visitor screening.

An internal report says the commission is reviewing the capability of Canada's 22 nuclear power plants to withstand an air attack of the kind carried out Sept. 11.

LONDON (REUTERS) - Britain has imposed no-fly zones over major nuclear power stations after warnings they could be at risk from terrorist attacks similar to those launched against America, a government spokesman said this week.

Industry chiefs had expressed fears that Britain's nuclear installations were dangerously exposed after news organisations overflew plants with light aircraft and helicopters.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Reuters)--While the United States steps up security at its nuclear power plants, energy experts warn the plants' fuel dumps are far more vulnerable than reactors to attack by anyone trying to spread radioactivity.

"Spent fuel has never gotten the same attention as the reactor ... as a result you don't have the same level of security and safety as exists for the reactor," David Lochbaum, a former nuclear plant engineer now with the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Reuters.

WASHINGTON (Reuters)- A Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives called last week for the Bush administration to post National Guard units at all operating or decommissioned nuclear reactors to protect them against attack.

Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, a longtime critic of the nuclear power industry, also urged the stockpiling of potassium iodide to give to residents who live near such facilities in the event of an accident or attack that results in the release of radioactive material.

Terrorism attack worries may prompt Ottawa to tighten security measures

OTTAWA (CP) — The federal government is considering deploying soldiers armed with surface-to-air missiles around Canada's nuclear facilities to guard against possible terrorist attacks from the air, says Natural Resources Minister Ralph Goodale.

"That is a dimension to this that we obviously have under consideration," Goodale said yesterday, commenting on a decision by France this week to take similar action.

Energy Minister Brian Wilson has confirmed that security at UK nuclear sites is being reviewed.

Following international warnings about the likelihood of an act of nuclear terrorism, Mr Wilson told the BBC that safety at nuclear sites was being closely monitored.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Wilson said: "We are constantly reviewing security arrangements around nuclear sites in the UK and both the security and safety regulators have continued to review all relevant precautions."

Experts discuss security: Access to radioactive materials is 'deeply troubling'

VIENNA (Reuters - The ruthlessness of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States shows that an act of nuclear terrorism is "far more likely" than previously thought, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said yesterday.

"The willingness of terrorists to sacrifice their lives to achieve their evil aims creates a new dimension in the fight against terrorism," said Mohamed el-Baradei, the agency's director-general.

$4.5 million for rapid-response OPP unit to protect nuclear plants

Premier Mike Harris has announced a $9-million package of security measures that will include rapid response and anti-terrorism units.

"Sept. 11 was a wake-up call for governments the world over. It was a reminder that we cannot take cherished freedoms and security for granted," Harris told the Legislature yesterday.

BERLIN — Germany's environment minister on Wednesday urged a review of security at the country's 19 nuclear power stations after it emerged that safety rules at one plant were broken for years. Lawmakers seized on the revelations to demand the delay of a contested shipment of radioactive waste next month. The convoy's route to a north German dump was hit by an overnight arson attack.

Go to the website of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and you'll find an apology for how thin the information is there. On October 11 the website was closed; now bits and pieces are slowly re-emerging. Susan Gagner, an NRC press spokeswoman, says the site is being "scrubbed" of information that might be useful to terrorists. She said the NRC had been asked to take that action by "another government agency," but would not say which one. Another NRC spokesman told Reuters they were removing, for example, latitude and longitude coordinates of nuclear reactors, plant schematics and so on. Note that a full month after September 11, the NRC had to be told to do this by someone else!

Operators of Canada's seven nuclear power plants have been ordered to increase security at their facilities after a review of procedures prompted by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Weapons will now be available to defend the plants. It is the first time they have been deployed at civilian nuclear power facilities in Canada, although have been required in the United States for some time. A spokesman for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission would not elaborate on how the weapons would be used.

Impenetrable barriers designed to thwart terrorist vehicles

The federal nuclear watchdog has ordered impenetrable security barriers erected at crucial nuclear installations in four provinces, including three nuclear power stations, a nuclear waste storage facility and a research reactor in Ontario.

These new barriers to stop "forced vehicle penetration" are one of five tougher anti-terrorist measures imposed under emergency authority by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the federal regulatory agency.

WASHINGTON - A threat against the Three Mile Island nuclear plant was seen yesterday as a potent reminder about the vulnerability of energy supplies that keep U.S. home computers humming, cars and trucks rolling down the highways, and manufacturers' assembly lines moving.

Some U.S. senators have urged billions of dollars be spent to protect American oil refineries, natural gas pipelines, hydropower dams and nuclear power plants. In the post-Sept. 11 world those facilities are highly desirable targets, they say.

When you mention security and flying, you'll probably think of big passenger planes and major airports. But many Canadians rely on smaller planes to commute - or take short trips for pleasure.

Marketplace co-host Jacquie Perrin flies small planes in her spare time. What she found out about security and small planes may surprise you.

As a known member of a flying club, Perrin must show her pilot's licence, medical and log book when she takes a plane out. As for checking what a pilot takes on board, many clubs and small airports don't bother.

HARRISBURG, Pa. –– The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant received a "credible threat" on Wednesday, prompting officials to shut down two nearby airports and dispatch military aircraft to protect the facility.

The plant was placed on a high state of alert as the FBI, state police and military planes scrambled to protect the facility.

Recent claims in the media about Canada's nuclear reactors being sitting ducks for a terrorist attack prompted Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the Crown corporation that runs the facilities, to issue a formal statement Tuesday, October 16. It claims that a repeat of the World Trade Center attacks is highly unlikely because Canada's reactors "are small targets, and it would take a high degree of skill to achieve a direct impact on a single unit."

 Northern Ohio's ticking time bombs

Two gigantic nuke bombs are ticking in northern Ohio, fully available to terrorists.

They are the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear plants, which are essentially indefensible. And the debate over the vulnerability of such reactors has raged for more than three decades. Given what we now know, they should be shut down immediately.

The CF-18 fighter planes that have recently been stationed at the Trenton, Ont., air-force base are there in part to help protect Ontario's nuclear stations from air attacks, according to environmental and municipal sources.

John Mutton, mayor of Clarington, a suburban community at the eastern end of the Greater Toronto Area, said Defence Minister Art Eggleton has contacted him, indicating that the fighter planes would be available to protect atomic plants.

OTTAWA — The unusual design of Candu nuclear power stations like Pickering makes them peculiarly vulnerable to a terrorist attack, says the author of an accident risk study prepared for a Senate committee.

Consultant Gordon Thompson said in an interview Friday that Ontario's nuclear stations were "susceptible" because the multiple reactors at each station rely on common systems for emergency core cooling and for vacuum containment.

Investigators probing the Sept. 11 terror attacks have been told that a Kuwaiti man was found with documents detailing Canadian atomic-energy facilities and disease-control labs.

U.S. agents were briefed in Canada regarding a 36-year-old Kuwaiti, whose belongings include documents that identify at least two Ottawa facilities, including an Atomic Energy Canada building and a federal disease- and virus-control site, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

Energy Probe, a national environmental think tank, has called on the premiers of New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario to immediately order the temporary closure of the nuclear power reactors operating in their respective provinces.

Re Ontario criticized over nuclear disaster plan, Oct. 4.

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commissioner Chris Barnes is right to be "incredulous" and "amazed" that Ontario still has no nuclear emergency plan.

But Barnes' own commission has contributed to this hazardous situation by refusing to insist that Canada's reactors have emergency plans before the commission grants them a licence to operate.

Mike Harris, Premier of Ontario

Dear Mr. Premier,

Bernard Lord, Premier of New Brunwick

Dear Mr. Premier,

Because of the threat of a terrorist attack, we urge you to immediately order the temporary shutdown of the Point Lepreau reactor now operating in New Brunswick. New Brunswick can rely on additional coal-fired or oil-fired production, or electricity imports from Quebec and Nova Scotia for the immediate future. New Brunswick has substantial surplus generating and import capacity at this time, allowing you to take this precautionary move without interrupting service to customers.

Bernard Landry, Premier Ministre du Québec

Dear Mr. Premier,

Because of the threat of a terrorist attack, we urge you to immediately order the temporary shutdown of the Gentille II reactor now operable in Québec. Hydrology conditions are improving in Québec and the province can also rely on additional oil-fired production if needed for the immediate future. You can take this precautionary move without interrupting service to customers.

Apparently partially in response to requests from the Mayor of Clarington and Energy Probe, the Canadian Department of National Defense has fighter aircraft stationed at Trenton as of last week. These aircraft are integrated in the NORAD system.

The minimum flight ceilings around some nuclear facilities have been doubled to 3000 feet.

As darkness descends on the city, canine patrols comb the perimeter of the CN Tower, sniffing for trouble. Argos fans pressing into the SkyDome expect to have their bags checked. Workers in Toronto's financial district must carry identification at all times to clear security.

While cities across the United States ratcheted up security, fearing retaliation for air strikes in Afghanistan, security forces in Toronto have been holding steady since they were put on heightened alert Sept. 11.

Two men, dog slip under locked gate seeking help

TIVERTON — The failure of security at the Bruce Power nuclear station to detect two men and a dog — they crawled under a locked gate and entered an office building after their boat capsized — doesn't seem to have shaken the confidence of area residents.

"Not too many people here are worried," Eric Howald, editor of the Kincardine Independent newspaper, said yes- terday.

Not prepared for emergencies, expert says

OTTAWA - Ontario has dragged its feet far too long revising a provincial plan to handle emergencies at nuclear power plants, a member of the federal atomic safety watchdog complained here yesterday at a hearing into restarting the Pickering reactors.

Chris Barnes said he found it ``incredulous'' that provincial officials have been discussing a new emergency action plan for roughly five years.

Information on stopping the spread and reversing the growth of nuclear arms. Extensive coverage of nuclear plant terror threat.

http://www.nci.org/index.htm

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Heeding the latest terrorist warning, the Federal Aviation Administration is temporarily restricting flights near the World Series games in New York and around nuclear sites.

The restrictions over New York City prohibit any aircraft operating under visual flight rules from flying within 30 nautical miles of John F. Kennedy International Airport during World Series games. The ban is in effect from 6:45 p.m. until 2 a.m. ET and lasts until midnight, November 6.

Dear Concerned Citizen:

A successful terrorist attack at a Canadian nuclear reactor could kill tens of thousands of people and cause untold damage and suffering. An attack on the Pickering nuclear plant could poison Lake Ontario, making its water undrinkable for the 6 million people who now depend on it, and it could require the permanent evacuation of the Greater Toronto Area.

An airborne terrorist attack on the Chalk River nuclear facility would likely cause only limited destruction, say atomic power experts.

Fred Boyd, a spokesman for the Ottawa-based Canadian Nuclear Association, says the research reactor at Chalk River is heavily protected by concrete and reinforced steel. It would not be easily penetrated, but it would be possible with the force of an air attack, he speculated.

OTTAWA - Canada has dramatically tightened security at vital oil fields, nuclear power plants and hydroelectric facilities to prevent possible terrorist strikes that could disable the Canadian and U.S. economies, Ralph Goodale, the Minister of Natural Resources, said yesterday.

The federal and provincial governments acted quickly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to protect vulnerable economic installations such as Alberta's vast oil and gas fields, which supply more energy to the U.S. market than Saudi Arabia.

WASHINGTON - The United States' 103 nuclear power reactors are vulnerable to acts of terrorism and the government should immediately station soldiers and missiles around each plant for protection, two watchdog groups said yesterday.

Nuclear power plants are located in 31 states and provide about 20 per cent of the nation's electricity supply.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says atomic power stations in the United States could be vulnerable to attacks by airliners used as missiles, but Canadian nuclear authorities are refusing to comment on whether domestic reactors are similarly at risk.

The NRC, the U.S. atomic watchdog agency, issued a statement on Friday saying that nuclear generating plants are designed to withstand extreme events, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes, but not terrorist strikes of the kind the United States experienced on Sept. 11.

Critics say the industry is in denial on the threat of airborne attack OTTAWA (CP) — Canada's nuclear power plants have stepped up security since the terrorist attacks in the U.S., and the nuclear industry is facing tough questions about the vulnerability of reactors.

A spokesman for the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the federal agency that oversees nuclear safety, is playing down concerns, saying there is no identified terrorist threat against Canada.

MIAMI - The Coast Guard has set up a precautionary secure zone in the waters around Turkey Point nuclear power plant south of Miami, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

Coast Guard spokesman Ron LaBrec said boaters would be banned from the area in the event of an incident or threat involving the plant.

The zone was set up as one of a series of security measures taken by the Coast Guard in Florida waters after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Steps include protecting cruise ships entering and leaving ports such as Miami.

One of Canada's pre-eminent environmental groups is calling for military protection of New Brunswick's nuclear power station at Point Lepreau.

Energy Probe executive director Tom Adams said Point Lepreau faces special security risks because of its proximity to the U.S. border and because of the small army of international technicians who have been trained at the station and know it inside out.

That information could be used to sabotage the 635-megawatt power station from the inside, he said.

The military should protect nuclear power plants in Canada against terrorist attacks such as those that occurred last week in the United States, Energy Probe says.

The environmental policy group wrote to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Defence Minister Arthur Eggleton and Solicitor-General Lawrence MacAulay on Saturday, asking for a federal military presence at the country's five nuclear power complexes in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, and at other atomic facilities.

In the wake of the attacks that destroyed the World Trade Towers in New York and damaged the Pentagon, American security officials have begun to think in earnest about some of the other targets that future terrorists might attack.

The Canadian military should protect all nuclear power plants in this country 24 hours a day because of vulnerability to World Trade Center-type terrorism, says Energy Probe.

The Toronto-based watchdog group has asked Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, as well as Canada's defence minister and solicitor-general, that nuclear power plants be protected around-the-clock from terrorist attacks.

"We've asked the Canadian military be deployed to protect the stations," Energy Probe's Tom Adams said yesterday.

Measures to keep weapons from terrorists found to be weak

What happens if a suicide bomber drives a jumbo jet into one of America's 103 nuclear power reactors? What happens if a fire fed by thousands of tons of jet fuel roars through a reactor complex--or, worse, through the enormous and barely-protected containment pools of spent nuclear fuel found at every such plant?

Following public hearings held on October 5, 2000 and December 14-15, 2000, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) today announced its decisions on an environmental assessment of Ontario Power Generation's proposed return to service of the four reactors at the Pickering ‘A' Nuclear Generating Station. The environmental assessment was prepared in accordance with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA).

Environmental Assessment

THE CHAIRPERSON: We will then move to the oral presentation by Michael Moles. That is presentation 00-H29.13A.

MR. MOLES: Good evening, Dr. Bishop, Commissioners and everyone else.

My name is Michael Moles. I was a long-time employee of Ontario Hydro Technologies and a reactor inspector. The question we have today is: Is there stress corrosion cracking in Pickering A?

What it really means is: Are Pickering A reactors safe? And in safe we are really referring to: Can we have a multiple LOCA?

Dear Sirs:

Following are Energy Probe's comments to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission⁽¹⁾ on Ontario Power Generation's Draft Submission to AECB entitled "Environmental Assessment Report, Pickering A Return to Service", dated April 2000.

For decades, nuclear power has been a promising industry. First, it promised electricity too cheap to meter, and nuclear-powered cars and airplanes. Later, it promised safe, reliable and economic electricity. Today, those promises are hard to make with a straight face, and even harder to keep: More than one-third of Canada's billion-dollar Candu reactors have stopped producing any electricity (or income), and the unsupportable debt created by Candu reactors has far surpassed $10-billion, not including the additional nuclear billions in the federal debt.