FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 22 May 2003

CONTACT INFORMATION: 

Kyle Rabin, 845-424-4149, ext. 239 

Lisa Rainwater van Suntum, PhD, 212-544-0045

FORCE-ON-FORCE FARCE COMING TO INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS THIS SUMMER:

 CITIZEN ADVOCATES DECLARE DRILL RIGGED AND UNREALISTIC

In this new post-9-11 era of terrorist attacks, color-coded terrorist alerts, and duct tape frenzies, security at US Nuclear Power Plants is being evaluated with antiquated, inadequate, and industry-favored plant security drills.

BUCHANAN, NEW YORK (May 22, 2003)  Today the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC) is alerting the media and elected officials that the planned July force-on-force security drill for Indian Point is rigged. The coalition offers eight recommendations for strengthening the OSRE drills in an effort to protect the public.

After great prodding by members of IPSEC, Senator Hillary Clinton and other elected officials, and The New York Times Editorial Board, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently included the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plants to a list of four facilities to face force-on-force security tests this year. 

The newly revised drills conducted under the Operational Safeguards Response Evaluation (OSRE) program, however, are a farce.  Major aspects of the new OSRE drill not only favor the nuclear industry but nearly ensure that plant security succeeds in deterring the mock attack.  Furthermore the drills do not test the ability of plant security to defend against an attack comparable to that on September 11^th, which involved a group of 19 terrorists comprising several different teams.

The first and most obvious flaw lies in the fact that the test has been rigged - long before mock terrorists will attempt to breach the facility in July.  While the actual test date remains top secret to the public, the NRC has been sharing secrets with perhaps the most important sector that should be kept from an early learning of the test date:  Entergy, the owner/operator of the plants. 

“This is absurd,” comments Lisa Rainwater van Suntum, project coordinator of IPSEC, a coalition of over 55 citizen, environmental, health, and public policy organizations.  “This is like saying that terrorists would call up Entergy months in advance and let them know when they plan to attack.  The public is being duped and put in jeopardy by this farcical drill.”

Given the heads up by the NRC, the federal agency that is to serve as a watchdog of the nuclear industry, Entergy’s Vice President of Operations at Indian Point, Fred Dacimo, addressed the plants’ security officers on April 21, 2003 in an internal memo (obtained by POGO—the Project on Government Oversight), “To prepare for this exercise . . . will require you to work longer hours during the next ten weeks to sharpen your skills . . . to execute the training and drill schedule, may require working additional hours, five twelve-hour days and occasionally six twelve-hour days.”  In addition, if the execution of the force-on-force test is successful, Dacimo offered a bonus of $500, to “those security officers, who don’t callout sick and remain accident free.” 

“To remain accident free” addresses the regulation, referred to as a “safety walkdown,” that any injury that occurs during the drill is classified as a general plant accident and counts against the company during the OSRE drill.  Security guards at the plants are now being coerced to put in even longer hours, despite recent reports of being overworked and tired—leading some to fall asleep on the job.  Incidentally, the OSRE drill at Indian Point, originally slated for June has been rescheduled for July due to public attention the Dacimo internal memo received in relation to forced overtime. 

Another major flaw in the exercise is the grading of the force-on-force exercises.  Unlike real life—where a single mistake or error could be fatal—the mock drills allow a passing grade of 75% for the continued operation of the given plant. 

“As teachers and parents, do we encourage our children to be “C” students?  Or do we push them to excel and achieve the perfect score?  Why should we be expecting any less of a nuclear power plant and its security whose performance is not a matter of receiving a scholarship to the next best college but rather a matter of life or death for the 300,000 residents living within the 10-mile radius and the 20 million residents living within the 50-mile radius of Indian Point?” questions Rainwater van Suntum. 

Other errors in the new drills include the passive role of the “insider terrorist,” the failure to conduct OSRE drills targeted at the irradiated fuel pools, and a lack of NRC enforcement of actions directed toward nuclear power plants that perform poorly on an OSRE drill. 

In comparison to the NRC’s OSRE program, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) requires facilities under their domain to provide a more robust security force to repel terrorists.  In fact the force-on-force program at DOE facilities  require plant security to defend against a larger group of attackers.

IPSEC recommends: 1) short advance notice of OSRE tests; 2) 100% defense requirement for force-on-force testing to be successful; 3) real-time attack scenarios, including daytime hours and simulated outage periods; 4) active role of insider mock terrorist; 5) irradiated fuel pools included in at least one exercise; 6) public input into reviewing the drills and revamping of OSRE drills; 7) repeated poor performance would lead to immediate closure of plant until performance is improved; and finally, 8) the OSRE test should assess the ability of plant security to repel an attack by 20 or more terrorists attacking from multiple directions in teams of four or five.

For a more detailed critique of the new force-on-force nuclear plant security test and background on the issue, go to:

IPSEC Issue Briefs and www.riverkeeper.org.  To view the Entergy Memo, go to: www.pogo.org

Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC). IPSEC is a coalition of fifty-eight civic, environmental, health and public policy organizations that formed in response to a flood of citizen concerns about the safety of Indian Point nuclear power plants after the terrorist attacks on 9.11.01.  Our goal is to ensure the safety and security of our neighborhoods by bringing about the immediate closure of Indian Point and its safe and orderly decommissioning.  

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