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Study Finds US Nuclear Reactors Susceptible To Terrorist Attacks

The Brunswick Nuclear Plant was ranked one of the most vulnerable nuclear reactors to a terrorist attack.
Doc Searls via Wikimedia

A new study commissioned by the Defense Department says every nuclear reactor in America is ill-prepared for a terrorist attack. North Carolina's Brunswick Nuclear Plant was ranked among the most vulnerable to attack, because of it's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean.

Kim Crawford is a spokesperson for Duke Energy, which manages four nuclear sites in North Carolina, including Brunswick. She says their plants are safe.
"Going into a nuclear plant is more secure certainly than even going into an airport," she says. "Since 9/11 additional upgrades, industry has invested billions of dollars. Added thousands of officers. Continually revisiting and evaluating our security needs."
 
Alan Kuperman led the project for the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project, and he says the problem isn't with Duke Energy.

"Our criticism is not that operators are not meeting the government requirements," Kuperman says. "Our problem is that the government requirements are way too low."

Kuperman says the government needs to require all nuclear facilities, civilian and military, to be ready for aircraft, seaborne, and rocket attack.

Sam worked at Vermont Public Radio from October 1978 to September 2017 in various capacities – almost always involving audio engineering. He excels at sound engineering for live performances.
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