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Washington Post Panel of Independent
Experts Gives A-/B+ to Security at Nuclear Plants, Second Highest Grade in Survey
By The Washington Post
Nuclear Energy Institute
September 10, 2002
In a survey of independent experts conducted by The Washington
Post, security at nuclear power plants received a grade of
A-/B+, the second highest rating in the entire survey.
"It's not perfect, but we're talking about extremely
hard targets," said Phil Anderson, Senior Fellow, Center
for Strategic and International Studies.
The survey covered 28 sectors of the U.S. homeland, drawn
from the categories energy, transportation, public places,
infrastructure, border, cyberspace, and counterterror. The
Trucks, Trains and Busses sector received an A grade. The
Oil, Gas, Electrical Facilities sector, graded separately
from nuclear power plants, received a C grade.
The results of the survey were reported in the article "How
Experts Grade Homeland Security," published on September
10, 2002, pages A20-21.
The article noted that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
kept nuclear plants on the highest level of alert since Sept.
11, 2001, and that, in Feb. 2002, the NRC ordered plants to
increase the number of security personnel and guard posts,
construct addition physical barriers, and make access requirements
more stringent.
Many plants moved security checkpoints further away from their
facilities, the paper observed, and the Coast Guard and National
Guard provided additional security in some states. Approximately
1,000 additional security guards were hired since Sept. 11,
bringing the total industry security force to some 6,000.
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