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News Archive 2003 Giuliani Promotes
Indian Pt. Terror Drill
By LISA W. FODERARO
The New York Times
July 17, 2003
HARRISON, N.Y., July 16 — Rudolph W. Giuliani, the
former New York City mayor, visited Westchester County today
to speak on behalf of one of his new clients, Entergy Nuclear
Northeast, as it prepares for an antiterrorism drill at its
Indian Point nuclear power complex.
The visit was part of an elaborate presentation by Entergy
that blended the thrills of a summer action picture —
an M-16 semiautomatic rifle firing blanks at an Indian Point
security officer — and Mr. Giuliani's star power. It
seemed designed to take back some of the attention that has
lately focused on Entergy's critics, who have attacked the
nuclear site's operations and its emergency evacuation plans.
Mr. Giuliani, whose consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, was
hired by Entergy in April to advise the company on security
and emergency planning, spoke about the usefulness of preparedness
drills. He cited exercises that the city undertook while he
was mayor — a mock airplane crash in Queens and an imaginary
sarin gas attack in Lower Manhattan.
"We did so many drills and exercises, there was probably
a point after a while that we thought we were going through
too many," he said in a news conference at Westchester
County Airport here. "And on Sept. 11 and 12 and 13,
all those drills and exercises became enormously important."
The antiterrorism drill, involving commando-style raids in
which mock terrorists try to foil the defenses at the plant,
in Buchanan, N.Y., is part of a federal pilot program and
will take place during several days sometime this summer,
Entergy officials said. But the Nuclear Regulatory Agency,
which will monitor the drill, refused to say precisely when,
citing security concerns.
Before Sept. 11, all nuclear power plants underwent such
drills every eight years. After the terrorist attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the drills were suspended,
as security forces at the nation's nuclear reactors were on
high alert, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission focused
on strengthening security guidelines.
Next year, the exercises will resume, with each of the nuclear
sites undergoing drills at least once every three years, said
Neil A. Sheehan, an N.R.C. spokesman. But this year, 15 nuclear
sites will conduct drills under the pilot program, using the
agency's new guidelines, which expand the threat from the
mock adversaries. The final guidelines will be in place by
the end of 2004, Mr. Sheehan said.
At Indian Point, which has two nuclear reactors, pseudoterrorists
will be given a layout of the complex, as well as its defense
strategy. They will then try to penetrate that defense in
several mock attacks, using sophisticated laser-tag equipment
and coming at the security officers from land and, possibly,
from the Hudson River, said James Knubel, Entergy Nuclear
Northeast's vice president for nuclear affairs.
Mr. Knubel said Indian Point will have two separate security
forces in place during the drill, one to respond to the mock
assailants and the other to maintain existing security in
the event of a real attack. Therefore, the security officers
will have warning of the timing of the drill.
Mr. Knubel said the mock attack would not come from the air,
although elected officials and environmental activists have
said since Sept. 11 that the plant is most vulnerable to sabotage
from above.
The N.R.C. does not plan to grade Indian Point on the exercise,
and Entergy officials stressed today that the drill is not
a test. Rather, it is a chance for both the N.R.C. and Entergy
to learn what improvements may be needed in the plant's defense.
Moreover, the N.R.C. does not intend to tell the public how
the security force at Indian Point performed during the drill,
Mr. Sheehan said, adding that critics of the nuclear industry
have manipulated results released about such exercises in
the past.
Opponents of Indian Point faulted the advance notice that
the guards would receive about the drills.
"It's troubling because we know that in the real world
the terrorists are not going to tip their hand and let Entergy
know they are coming," said Kyle M. Rabin, the policy
analyst for Riverkeeper, an environmental group.
Mr. Rabin also dismissed Mr. Giuliani's involvement as a
"P.R. move," saying Entergy was "hiding behind
the popularity" of the former mayor. And he ridiculed
the idea of training for an assault originating on the ground,
instead of one coming through the air.
Mr. Knubel defended the exercises. "This is as real
as it can get without actually firing real bullets and people
getting hurt," he said.
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