Nuclear Plants Told to Protect Against Terrorist Bombings
Nuclear power plants must install barriers to guard against vehicle bombs like the one that exploded under the World Trade Center, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ruled.
The NRC had refused for years to require the anti-terrorist barriers at nuclear plants, but commissioners reconsidered because of the New York City bombing and another bizarre incident, which both happened in February, 1993.
A man driving a station wagon crashed through a fence and a metal garage door at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in central Pennsylvania. The man, a former mental patient, roamed the plant’s turbine building for four hours before he was apprehended. He carried no explosives or weapons.
The nation’s nuclear plants have 18 months to comply with the rule issued this week. They may use a variety of barriers, including ditches or walls.
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