Nuclear Power Plant Security and Vulnerabilities







Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress



The physical security of nuclear power plants and their vulnerability to deliberate acts of
terrorism was elevated to a national security concern following the events of September 11, 2001.
Title VI of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 regarding nuclear security amended the Atomic Energy
Act with the addition of new provisions for security evaluations and rulemaking to revise the
“Design Basis Threat.” The act included provisions for fingerprinting and criminal background
checks of security personnel, their use of firearms, and the unauthorized introduction of
dangerous weapons. The designation of facilities subject to enforcement of penalties for sabotage
expanded to include treatment and disposal facilities.
As part of security response evaluations, the act requires the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) to conduct “force-on-force” security exercises at nuclear power plants at least once every
three years, and revise the “design-basis threat” to consider a wider variety of potential attacks.
The NRC has strengthened its regulations on nuclear power plant security, but critics contend that
implementation by the industry has been too slow and that further measures are needed.
Vulnerability to a deliberate aircraft crash remains an outstanding issue, as the latest NRC
rulemaking addresses only newly designed plants. Shortcomings in the performance of security
contractors has drawn the attention of Congress.
This report will be updated as events warrant.






Backgr ound ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Plant Physical Security....................................................................................................................2
Design Basis Threat..................................................................................................................2
Force-On-Force Exercises.........................................................................................................3
Emergency Response................................................................................................................4
Nuclear Plant Vulnerability.............................................................................................................4
Vulnerability from Air Attack...................................................................................................5
Spent Fuel Storage....................................................................................................................5
Regulatory and Legislative Proposals.............................................................................................6
Author Contact Information............................................................................................................7






Physical security at nuclear power plants concerns the threat of radiological sabotage, a deliberate
act against a plant that could directly or indirectly endanger public health and safety through
exposure to radiation. Out of Cold War concerns, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in

1967 instituted a provision that nuclear plants are not required to protect against an attack 1


directed by an “enemy of the United States.” This principle was reflected in the initial “Design
Basis Threat” (DBT) in the late 1970s, describing potential attacks that nuclear plants must
prepare for, including the number of attackers, their training, and the weapons and tactics they are
capable of employing.
Following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) began a “top-to-bottom” review of its nuclear power
plant security requirements. On February 25, 2002, the agency issued “interim compensatory
security measures” to deal with the “generalized high-level threat environment” that continued to
exist, and on January 7, 2003, it issued regulatory orders that tightened nuclear plant access. On
April 29, 2003, NRC issued three orders to restrict security officer work hours, establish new
security force training and qualification requirements, and increase the DBT that nuclear security
forces must be able to defend against.
In the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT), Congress imposed a statutory requirement on the 2
NRC to initiate rulemaking for revising the design basis threat. The DBT, a classified document,
describes general characteristics of adversaries that nuclear plants and nuclear fuel cycle facilities
must defend against, including radiological sabotage and theft of strategic special nuclear
material. EPACT required NRC to consider 12 factors in revising the DBT, including but not
limited to an assessment of various terrorist threats, sizable explosive devices and modern
weapons, attacks by persons with sophisticated knowledge of facility operations, and attacks on
spent fuel shipments.
Critics of NRC’s security measures had demanded both short-term regulatory changes and
legislative reforms. A fundamental concern was the nature of the DBT, which critics contended
should be increased to include a number of separate, coordinated attacks. In revising the DBT in
2003, the NRC indicated that a private security force employed by a nuclear power plant cannot
reasonably be expected to defend against all threats—for example, airborne attacks. The prospect
of a highjacked airliner repeating a 9/11-like airborne attack on a nuclear power plant continues to
draw concern.
Critics also pointed out that licensees are required to employ only a minimum of five security 3
personnel on duty per plant, which they argue is not enough for the job. Nuclear spokespersons
responded that the actual security force for the nation’s 65 nuclear plant sites numbers more than

1 It was feared that Cuba might launch an attack on Florida reactors. Government Accountability Office, Nuclear
Power Plants—Efforts Made to Upgrade Security, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Design Basis Threat
Process Should Be Improved (GAO-06-388), March 2006, p. 2. Regulations at 10 CFR 50.13.
2 P.L. 109-58, Title VI, Subtitle DNuclear Security (Secs. 651-657). Sec. 651 adds Atomic Energy Act Sec. 170E.
Design Basis Threat Rulemaking.
3 10 C.F.R. 73.55 (h)(3) states: “The total number of guards, and armed, trained personnel immediately available at the
facility to fulfill these response requirements shall nominally be ten (10), unless specifically required otherwise on a
case by case basis by the Commission; however, this number may not be reduced to less than five (5) guards.





5,000, an average of about 75 per site (covering multiple shifts). Nuclear plant security forces are
also supposed to be aided by local law enforcement officers if an attack occurs.

Regulations in place prior to the September 11 attacks (10 C.F.R. 73—Physical Protection of
Plants and Materials) required all NRC-licensed commercial nuclear power plants to have a series
of physical barriers and a trained security force. The plant sites were divided into three zones: an
“owner-controlled” buffer region, a “protected area,” and a “vital area.” Access to the protected
area was restricted to a portion of plant employees and monitored visitors, with stringent access
barriers. The vital area was further restricted, with additional barriers and access requirements.
The security force had to comply with NRC requirements on pre-hiring investigations and 4
training.
The NRC proposed to amend the security regulations and add new security requirements that 5
would codify the series of four orders supplementing the DBT issued after 9/11. One of NRC’s
regulatory orders (April 2003) changed the DBT to “represent the largest reasonable threat
against which a regulated private guard force should be expected to defend under existing law,” 6
according to the NRC announcement. NRC approved its final rule amending the DBT (10 C.F.R. 7
Part 73.1) on January 29, 2007. As directed by the Energy Policy Act, the final rule imposed the
security requirements of the April 2003 order, making the DBT orders generically applicable.
The design basis threat is used by NRC licensees as the basis for implementing defensive
strategies of a specific nuclear plant site through security plans, safeguards contingency plans,
and guard training and qualification plans. Although specific details of the revised DBT were not
released to the public, in general the final rule
• clarifies that physical protection systems are required to protect against diversion
and theft of fissile material;
• expands the assumed capabilities of adversaries to operate as one or more teams
and attack from multiple entry points;
• assumes that adversaries are willing to kill or be killed and are knowledgeable
about specific target selection;
• expands the scope of vehicles that licensees must defend against to include water
vehicles and land vehicles beyond four-wheel-drive type;
• revises the threat posed by an insider to be more flexible in scope; and

4 General NRC requirements for nuclear power plant security can be found in 10 C.F.R. 73.55.
5 Federal Register, October 26, 2006 (vol. 71, no. 207), NRC, Power Reactor Security Requirements, Proposed Rule.
6 Federal Register, May 7, 2003 (vol. 68, no. 88). NRC, All Operating Power Reactor Licensees; Order Modifying
Licenses.
7 Federal Register, March 19, 2007 (vol. 72, no. 52), NRC, Design Basis Threat, Final Rule, pp. 12705-12727.





• adds a new mode of attack from adversaries coordinating a vehicle bomb assault
with another external assault.
In 2006, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed the upgrades in nuclear plant 8
security and found a generally logical and well-defined process. GAO found NRC staff trained in
threat assessment who monitor information provided by intelligence agencies and screen the
information to evaluate particular terrorist capabilities for inclusion in the DBT. However, the
NRC produced a revised DBT that generally, but not always, corresponded to the threat
assessment staff’s original recommendations.
The DBT final rule excluded aircraft attacks, which raised considerable controversy. In approving
the rule, NRC rejected a petition from the Union of Concerned Scientists to require that nuclear
plants be surrounded by aircraft barriers made of steel beams and cables (the so-called
“beamhenge” concept). Critics of the rule charged that deliberate aircraft crashes were a highly
plausible mode of attack, given the events of 9/11. However, NRC contended that power plants
were already required to mitigate the effects of aircraft crashes and that “active protection against 9
airborne threats is addressed by other federal organizations, including the military.” Additional
NRC action on aircraft threats is discussed below.
EPACT codified an NRC requirement that each nuclear power plant conduct security exercises
every three years to test its ability to defend against the design basis threat. In these “force-on-
force” exercises, monitored by NRC, an adversary force from outside the plant attempts to
penetrate the plant’s vital area and damage or destroy key safety components. Participants in the
tightly controlled exercises carry weapons modified to fire only blanks and laser bursts to
simulate bullets, and they wear laser sensors to indicate hits. Other weapons and explosives, as
well as destruction or breaching of physical security barriers, may also be simulated. While one
squad of the plant’s guard force is participating in a force-on-force exercise, another squad is also
on duty to maintain normal plant security. Plant defenders know that a mock attack will take
place sometime during a specific period of several hours, but they do not know what the attack
scenario will be. Multiple attack scenarios are conducted over several days of exercises.
In response to the growing emphasis on security, NRC established the Office of Nuclear Security
and Incident Response on April 7, 2002. The office centralizes security oversight of all NRC-
regulated facilities, coordinates with law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and handles
emergency planning activities. Force-on-force exercises are an example of the office’s
responsibilities.
Full implementation of the force-on-force program began in late 2004. Standard procedures and
other requirements have been developed for using the force-on-force exercises to evaluate plant
security and as a basis for taking regulatory enforcement action. Many tradeoffs are necessary to
make the exercises as realistic and consistent as possible without endangering participants or
regular plant operations and security.

8 GAO-06-388.
9 NRC,NRC Approves Final Rule Amending Security Requirements, News Release No. 07-012, January 29, 2007.





NRC required the nuclear industry to develop and train a “composite adversary force” comprising
security officers from many plants to simulate terrorist attacks in the force-on-force exercises.
However, in September 2004 testimony, GAO criticized the industry’s selection of a security
company that guards about half of U.S. nuclear plants, Wackenhut, to also provide the adversary
force. In addition to raising “questions about the force’s independence,” GAO noted that
Wackenhut had been accused of cheating on previous force-on-force exercises by the Department 10
of Energy. Exelon terminated its security contracts with Wackenhut in late 2007 after guards at
the Peach Bottom reactor in York County, Pennsylvania, were discovered sleeping while on 11
duty. EPACT requires NRC to “mitigate any potential conflict of interest that could influence
the results of a force-on-force exercise, as the Commission determines to be necessary and
appropriate.”
After the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant near Harrisburg, PA, Congress
required that all nuclear power plants be covered by emergency plans. NRC requires that within
an approximately 10-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) around each plant, the operator must
maintain warning sirens and regularly conduct evacuation exercises monitored by NRC and the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In light of the increased possibility of terrorist
attacks that, if successful, could result in release of radioactive material, critics have renewed
calls for expanding the EPZ to include larger population centers.
The release of radioactive iodine during a nuclear incident is a particular concern, because iodine
tends to concentrate in the thyroid gland of persons exposed to it. Emergency plans in many states
include distribution of iodine pills to the population within the EPZ. Taking non-radioactive
iodine before exposure would prevent absorption of radioactive iodine but would afford no
protection against other radioactive elements. In 2002, NRC began providing iodine pills to states
requesting them for populations within the 10-mile EPZ.

The major concerns in operating a nuclear power plant are controlling the nuclear chain reaction
and assuring that the reactor core does not lose its coolant and “melt down” from the heat
produced by the radioactive fission products within the fuel rods. U.S. plants are designed and
built to prevent dispersal of radioactivity, in the event of an accident, by surrounding the reactor
in a steel-reinforced concrete containment structure, which represents an intrinsic safety feature.
Two major accidents have taken place in power reactors, at Three Mile Island (TMI) in 1979 and
at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union in 1986. Although both accidents resulted from a combination
of operator error and design flaws, TMI’s containment structure effectively prevented a major
release of radioactivity from a fuel meltdown caused by the loss of coolant. In the Chernobyl
accident, the reactor’s protective barriers were breached when an out-of-control nuclear reaction

10 GAO. “Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Preliminary Observations on Efforts to Improve Security at Nuclear Power
Plants.” Statement of Jim Wells, Director, Natural Resources and Environment to the Subcommittee on National
Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations, House Committee on Government Reform. September 14,
2004. p. 14.
11 Washington Post, “Executive Resigns in Storm Over Sleeping Guards, January 10, 2008.





led to a fierce graphite fire that caused a significant part of the radioactive core to be blown into
the atmosphere.
Nuclear power plants were designed to withstand hurricanes, earthquakes, and other extreme
events. But deliberate attacks by large airliners loaded with fuel, such as those that crashed into
the World Trade Center and Pentagon, were not analyzed when design requirements for today’s 12
reactors were determined. A taped interview shown September 10, 2002, on Arab TV station al-
Jazeera, which contained a statement that Al Qaeda initially planned to include a nuclear plant in
its list of 2001 attack sites, intensified concern about aircraft crashes.
In light of the possibility that an air attack might penetrate the containment building of a nuclear
plant, some interest groups have suggested that such an event could be followed by a meltdown
and widespread radiation exposure. Nuclear industry spokespersons have countered by pointing
out that relatively small, low-lying nuclear power plants are difficult targets for attack, and have
argued that penetration of the containment is unlikely, and that even if such penetration occurred
it probably would not reach the reactor vessel. They suggest that a sustained fire, such as that
which melted the steel support structures in the World Trade Center buildings, would be
impossible unless an attacking plane penetrated the containment completely, including its fuel-
bearing wings. According to former NRC Chairman Nils Diaz, NRC studies “confirm that the
likelihood of both damaging the reactor core and releasing radioactivity that could affect public 13
health and safety is low.”
NRC proposes to amend its regulations with a new rule that would require newly designed power
reactor facilities to take into account the potential effects of the impact of a large, commercial 14
aircraft. The proposed rule would only affect new reactor designs not previously certified by 15
NRC. Westinghouse submitted changes in the design of its AP1000 reactor to NRC on May 29,

2007, proposing to line the inside and outside of the reactor’s concrete containment structure with 16


steel plates to increase resistance to aircraft penetration.
When no longer capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction, “spent” nuclear fuel is removed
from the reactor and stored in a pool of water in the reactor building and at some sites later
transferred to dry casks on the plant grounds. Because both types of storage are located outside
the reactor containment structure, particular concern has been raised about the vulnerability of
spent fuel to attack by aircraft or other means. If terrorists could breach a spent fuel pool’s

12 Meserve, Richard A., NRC Chairman, “Research: Strengthening the Foundation of the Nuclear Industry, Speech to
Nuclear Safety Research Conference, October 29, 2002.
13 Letter from NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz to Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, September 8, 2004.
14 Federal Register, October 3, 2007 (vol. 72, no. 191), Consideration of Aircraft Impacts for New Nuclear Power
Reactor Designs.
15 NRC, “NRC Proposes Adding Plane Crash Security Assessments to New Reactor Design Certification
Requirements, News Release No. 07-053, April 24, 2007.
16 MacLachlan, Ann, “Westinghouse Changes AP1000 Design to Improve Plane Crash Resistance, Nucleonics Week,
June 21, 2007.





concrete walls and drain the cooling water, the spent fuel’s zirconium cladding could overheat
and catch fire.
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report in April 2005 that found that
“successful terrorist attacks on spent fuel pools, though difficult, are possible,” and that “if an
attack leads to a propagating zirconium cladding fire, it could result in the release of large
amounts of radioactive material.” NAS recommended that the hottest spent fuel be interspersed
with cooler spent fuel to reduce the likelihood of fire, and that water-spray systems be installed to
cool spent fuel if pool water were lost. The report also called for NRC to conduct more analysis 17
of the issue and consider earlier movement of spent fuel from pools into dry storage. The
FY2006 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act (P.L. 109-103, H.Rept. 109-275)
provided $21 million for NRC to carry out the site-specific analyses recommended by NAS.
NRC has long contended that the potential effects of terrorist attacks are too speculative to
include in environmental studies for proposed spent fuel storage and other nuclear facilities. th
However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9 Circuit ruled in June 2006 that terrorist attacks
must be included in the environmental study of a dry storage facility at California’s Diablo
Canyon nuclear plant. NRC reissued the Diablo Canyon study May 29, 2007, to comply with the 18
court ruling, but it did not include terrorism in other recent environmental studies.

After video recordings of inattentive security officers at the Peach Bottom (PA) nuclear power
plant were aired on local television, an NRC inspection in late September 2007 confirmed that 19
there had been multiple occasions on which multiple security officers were inattentive.
However, after a follow-up inspection into security issues at the Peach Bottom plant, the NRC
concluded that the plant’s security program had not been significantly degraded as a result of the
guards’ inattentiveness. NRC issued a bulletin December 12, 2007, requiring all nuclear power
plants to provide written descriptions of their “managerial controls to deter and address
inattentiveness and complicity among licensee security personnel.”
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce announced January 7, 2008, that it would 20
conduct a comprehensive review of the NRC’s oversight operations. “The NRC’s stunning
failure to act on credible allegations of sleeping security guards, coupled with its unwillingness to
protect the whistleblower who uncovered the problem, raises troubling questions,” said
Representative John D. Dingell, Chairman of the Committee.

17 National Academy of Sciences, Board on Radioactive Waste Management, Safety and Security of Commercial Spent
Nuclear Fuel Storage, Public Report (online version), released April 6, 2005.
18 Beattie, Jeff, “NRC Takes Two Roads on Terror Review Issue, The Energy Daily, February 27, 2007.
19 NRC, NRC Commences Follow-up Security Inspection at Peach Bottom, November 5, 2007 http://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2007/07-057.i.html.
20 Committee on Energy and Commerce, Energy and Commerce Committee to Probe Breakdowns in NRC Oversight,
January 7, 2008 http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_110/110nr149.shtml.





Mark Holt Anthony Andrews
Specialist in Energy Policy Specialist in Energy and Energy Infrastructure
mholt@crs.loc.gov, 7-1704 Policy
aandrews@crs.loc.gov, 7-6843