Indian Point Is Said to Pass U.S. Test in Mock Attack
By LYDIA POLGREEN
The New York Times
August 12, 2003

The private security force at the Indian Point nuclear power plant successfully repelled multiple mock attacks in a high-tech training exercise conducted two weeks ago, the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a letter released yesterday, the first public assessment of the exercise.

Nils J. Diaz, chairman of the commission, wrote last week in a letter to local officials that Indian Point has a "strong defensive strategy and capability," and that the security force had "successfully protected the plant from repeated mock-adversary attacks."

The letter, addressed to New York's senators, Gov. George E. Pataki and other officials, was made public by the commission yesterday.

But those who want to shut down the plant said the exercise was little more than a farce. Alex Matthiessen, director of the environmental group Riverkeeper, said yesterday that the so-called force-on-force drill was unrealistic because the plant knew about it months in advance and it did not involve a suicide-attack situation.

"When the N.R.C. conducts a drill that tests post-9/11 terrorist scenarios and when they allow truly independent observers and experts to observe the drill, only then will I begin to believe that Indian Point's security is robust or adequate," Mr. Matthiessen said. "At this point the N.R.C. has no credibility with the public, having just rubber-stamped a patently flawed emergency plan."

Dr. Diaz's letter is the latest victory for Entergy, the company that owns the plant, in its battle against those who are fighting to shut down the nearly 30-year-old nuclear reactors, which sit beneath concrete domes on the Hudson River in Westchester County, about 35 miles from Times Square.

Environmental and anti-nuclear groups have sought to shut the plant for decades, but the movement picked up steam after Sept. 11, 2001, when one of the hijacked planes that hit the World Trade Center flew near the plant.

Last month the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a plan to deal with a disaster at the plant despite complaints from surrounding communities that the plan would not adequately protect the 300,000 people who live within 10 miles of the plant. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission immediately accepted the emergency management agency's recommendation. Jim Steets, a spokesman for Entergy, said these decisions and Dr. Diaz's letter should put to rest any lingering concerns about safety at the plant.

"This is the most rigorous and realistic test of Indian Point's security ever," Mr. Steets said. "Any reasonable person who has had security concerns about Indian Point ought to be reassured by this letter."

The plant's emergency plan is likely to be the subject of Congressional hearings this fall. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Representative Sue Kelly, whose district includes Indian Point and thousands of people who live near it, have both called for officials from the emergency management agency and the regulatory commission to explain why the plan was approved over the objections of local officials.

Representative Nita M. Lowey, whose district includes people who live in the 10-mile-radius evacuation zone, said in a statement that the tests were not adequate.

"Were guards required to defend against airborne and water-based threats, two of Indian Point's greatest vulnerabilities? Why does poor performance in these drills carry no penalties?" the statement said. "Our nuclear facilities must be protected by top-notch security forces that undergo regular, rigorous exercises that reflect the real-world terrorist threats we face today."

Dr. Diaz's letter was an unusual disclosure of results of a "force-on-force" drill, and came after local officials demanded to know how well plant security had performed. The drill was carried out with much secrecy; reporters and the public were kept far from the plant as the exercises unfolded.

Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the regulatory commission, said that Dr. Diaz had decided to write a letter to local officials because, "there is considerable public interest in how the plant performed."

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