ML061110039
| ML061110039 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Palisades  |
| Issue date: | 04/04/2006 |
| From: | Wald M L The New York Times |
| To: | Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| References | |
| Download: ML061110039 (1) | |
Text
Study Faults~ d Rules (- Reactors ByMATHEW.
L. WALD WASHINGTON, April 3 -After consulting with the Industry, the Nu-clear Regulatory Commission weak-en*d security regulations it had pro-posed for reactors, government au-ditorssa~id in a report to be released on-Tuesday.1..', ,jrhe auditors said the process "cre-ak-fte.the Reappearano.3 that the cljnges'wereiiiade based on what the -lndustry consider'ed
'reasonable an4 feasible to defend against rather than an-assessment of the terrorist tl~eat Iseu4'p. : .! report, by the Go vernment Ac-cowuntabilityOffice, stopped short of*attg that? -the. connii~slon had 6 changesi"based solely on in-dtiitryvieivs."rdg i he bstudy,. requested by Repre-sentative.Christopher Shays, a Con-nkctcut Republican who is the chair-'rr'n np..6hesubcommitl ee on national security of the House Government Reform :Commi~lee,.did not draw any broad conclusions about'the ac-tual level of security.,at the plants,.except to note that drils had not been held at:most of the plants since the neW.requirements tool: effect on Oct.29,. ?20G4.rThe
- 03 operable reactors*ar spread'among 65 :;ltes, but as of the .en( of March, only 27' have had exercisesdinwhich attackers and de-'feiders-used laser guns to -test pre-pa ednessj-according to the subcom-ii.Shv in- a statenment, said:*These GAO. findings; paint a decid-*diy mixed picture of nuclear power security.today.
.Whill documented, progress has been made In strength--- enig reactor security standards, the I ticlear -Regulatory.
.Commission
-seermi nable to fortify Itself against'tlia erofan averly 'cozy rela-.*tnth1Vwlthnthe-industry."*f..-)3e added, ."The.re:lulated should-'noleven appear to be able tQ dictate tystandards to the regulator." sokesman for the commisslon,.laot h er, lsaed the agency had P.mde4siqg Iksy after the Sept. "1 at-ktaicstto.ryew its Jules, Including LtecharacteristlsL.we attacking a.force; that the 'plants ni~atate Spe spared to defend against, called the:*, design basis threat."'-Making changes td the design ba-jis threat while simultaneously sollc-ttg feedback fronm the industry'iiay~bave.
contributed to'the im'pres-*,o,.~n omndue influence, Mr. Brenner*>4; prpmine~nt critic of the nuclear stryt<DavldoLchbaum of the of Concerned Scientists, said inerview that'his group was Q)~~~~. , '... ,x, THE NEW YORK TIMES NATIONAL TUESDAY APRIL 4, 2006: 's'An overly cozy is.. relationship' with industry is seen..often not allowed to talk informally to commissioners, because they* were the ultimate arbiters of what rules were Issued. But the industry appears to have done just that on se-' curity, Mr. Lochbaum said, consult-~ing with the commission, members',i after they received recommenda--i; tionsfrom agency staff members..4 "How did the commissioners de-:ide to overrule their staff?" he' : asked..Mr.' Brenner, the commission
., spokesman, said he knew of no direct-communicationbetween the industry and the commission members; the a- communication had been with' the t commission's staff, he said.T' Thecommissionhascutoffalmost s all public discussion on, security is-.sues; the government accountability
__ .report is one of the few independent
' looks at the status of the plants.L The subcommittee will hear testi--mony on Tuesday afternoon from the no commission, the industry and inde-pendent security experts.In its report, the auditing agency;- singled out two changes that the* *-commissioners had made to recom-_mendations by the agency's staff.. about the weapons that the attackers* .'F would be assumed to carry..ma The staff expanded the list of:-. 4weapons that plants would have to* ' ,-defend against, but the commission ,q tdeleted two of them. While the G.A.O.-did. not specify the two, people in-0s volved in the process said they were rocket-propelled grenades, which ,." are common around the world, and 50-callber sniper rifles, which can be bought legally in the United States.