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Summary:
Protection of nuclear powerplants from terrorist attack has become a current concern in light of the September 11 attacks. Assault by land from armed terrorists, and the threat of crashing a hijacked airliner into a reactor, are possibilities being studied as regulations and protection measures are reviewed. Legislation to increase security measures and requirements, including proposals to form a federal nuclear guard force, has been introduced. Nuclear powerplants have long been recognized as potential targets of terrorist attacks, and critics have long questioned the adequacy of the measures required of nuclear plant operators to defend against such attacks. Following the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Centers the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) activated its Emergency Response Center and advised all plant operators to go to the highest level of security alert, where they have since remained. NRC also began a "topto-bottom" review of its security requirements, and on February 26, 2002, issued "interim compensatory security measures" to deal with the "generalized high-level threat environment" that continues to exist for nuclear powerplants.
