GAO finds security holes in nuclear plants

Oct 3, 2003 12:00 PM

The GAO has also issued a recent report saying federal inspections and security exercises at commercial nuclear plants often overstate the actual level of protection.

The report says that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's inspection reports were found to not include incidents such as a "guard found sleeping" or falsification of security logs as security violations.

It also says that attack exercises designed to test a plant's ability to detect and repel a mock terrorist assault often are staged in such ways that they provide false assurances about a facility's security.

Congressional investigators have "documented a disturbing pattern of lax NRC oversight and inattention to security at these sensitive facilities," Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee and a frequent critic of the NRC, told The Associated Press.

While the NRC has not responded to the report, in the past it has maintained that the industry has significantly increased security since the Sept. 11 attacks. An outline of some of those measures is available at GOVERNMENT SECURITY online:

govtsecurity.securitysolutions.com/ar/security_backyard_threats/index.htm

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