Video of Sleeping Guards Shakes Nuclear Industry

Source: Washington Post

Video of Sleeping Guards Shakes Nuclear Industry

Sight of Guards Asleep Shakes Industry

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 4, 2008; Page A01

Kerry Beal was taken aback when he discovered last March that many of his fellow security guards at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania were taking regular naps in what they called "the ready room."

When he spoke to supervisors at his company, Wackenhut Corp., they told Beal to be a team player. When he alerted the regional office of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, regulators let the matter drop after the plant's owner, Exelon, said it found no evidence of guards asleep on the job.

So Beal videotaped the sleeping guards. The tape, eventually given to WCBS, a CBS television affiliate in New York City, showed the armed workers snoozing against walls, slumped on tabletops or with eyes closed and heads bobbing.

The fallout of the broadcast is still being felt. Last month, Exelon, the country's largest provider of nuclear power, fired Wackenhut, which had guarded each of its 10 nuclear plants. The NRC is reviewing its own oversight procedures, having failed to heed Beal's warning. And Wackenhut says that the entire nuclear industry needs to rethink security if it hopes to meet the tougher standards the NRC has tried to impose since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/03/AR2008010304442.html

I'm glad the Washington Post is starting to cover these stories.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/19/AR2007121901857.html

A Nuclear Site Is Breached
South African Attack Should Sound Alarms

By Micah Zenko
Thursday, December 20, 2007; Page A29

An underreported attack on a South African nuclear facility last month demonstrates the high risk of theft of nuclear materials by terrorists or criminals. Such a crime could have grave national security implications for the United States or any of the dozens of countries where nuclear materials are held in various states of security.

Shortly after midnight on Nov. 8, four armed men broke into the Pelindaba nuclear facility 18 miles west of Pretoria, a site where hundreds of kilograms of weapons-grade uranium are stored. According to the South African Nuclear Energy Corp., the state-owned entity that runs the Pelindaba facility, these four "technically sophisticated criminals" deactivated several layers of security, including a 10,000-volt electrical fence, suggesting insider knowledge of the system. Though their images were captured on closed-circuit television, they were not detected by security officers because nobody was monitoring the cameras at the time.

So, undetected, the four men spent 45 minutes inside one of South Africa's most heavily guarded "national key points" -- defined by the government as "any place or area that is so important that its loss, damage, disruption or immobilization may prejudice the Republic."

Eventually, the attackers broke into the emergency control center in the middle of the facility, stole a computer (which was ultimately left behind) and breached an electronically sealed control room. After a brief struggle, they shot Anton Gerber, an off-duty emergency services officer. Gerber later explained that he was hanging around because he believed (reasonably, in retrospect) that his fiancée -- a site supervisor -- was not safe at work. Although badly injured, Gerber triggered the alarm, setting off sirens and lights and alerting police stationed a few miles away.

<snip>

If it hasn't gotten one already.

Gun battle in reactor control room - Nuclear industry tries to censor the story
Sun Nov 11th 2007, 07:09 PM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x120921

South Africa nuclear research facility admits to second break-in
Tue Nov 13th 2007, 08:40 AM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3064484

NYT: Break-In at Nuclear Site Baffles South Africa
Sat Nov 17th 2007, 05:06 AM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x121970

Suspect arrested in connection with the daring break-in at the Pelindaba nuclear facility
Wed Nov 21st 2007, 07:25 AM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x122539

WP: A Nuclear Site Is Breached
Thu Dec 20th 2007, 11:22 AM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x126576

This one story is going to do nothing but get one or two minimum wage guards fired and then it will be business as usual.

They just can't resist, can they? :)

of how a story like this can radiate outward from its ground zero. :)

Wonder what Wackenhut knows about the terra snow job that they don't want us to wake up to.

We have to believe that terrorists flew over the NY reactor --- !!!

And didn't bother it because they wanted to send a msg to Wall Street re the WTC . . .
which incidently was going to have to be dismantled --- !!!

lack of oversight. Also they underpay so the employees don't feel compelled to be responsible.

And we have the Repugs trying to line up a whole new generation of these nuclear duds which harm the public ---

only way to viably generate industrial power cheaply. Many companies move from socal to nc because power costs 1/7th as much.

Nuke power. Just ask france and the US Navy. Reactors are safe and effective.

Need 300MW build a reactor.

Nuke power is not a political issue.

There is any "only" way ---
These plants all use up oil at any rate --- one way or another.

Sununu's involvement certainly makes nuclear power a political issue ---
Cheney's involvement certainly makes nuclear power a political issue ---
Bush's involvement certainly makes nuclear power a political issue ---

Even Scialia came out to help Cheney "duck" loosening the paper work on the energy meetings ---

So far nuclear weapons haven't directly and immediately harmed us ---
are you willing to say they never will?

Of course not ---

and the same with nuclear reactors --- they are a SLEEPING threat to us all ---

the chemical and radioactive waste nuclear energy produces.

Patelco credit union has a sleepy guard, too.

I hope he never has to shoot anyone with crust in his eyes

if it weren't for my security guard gig on the graveyard shift. My favorite location was guarding a new Caldor they were building. The piles of "GrandMa's extra fluffy pillows" and large screen tv's was a really bad combo for security. Then again, noone ever stole anything so maybe it was worth it for them.

The Billions that the US government has spent on Security (wink, wink) that our Nuclear plants would be protected?

If this is the security of Nuclear Plants...what about companies that produce chemicals like clorox...Bopal anyone..

As we immediately understood, these things are too dangerous to accommodate human error ---

SLEEPING murder ---

I want my potassium iodide pills!!!!!!!

When neo-environmentalists (who didn't march against nuke power back in the 70s and 80s like I did) wanna "bring back" nuke power as a "safe" solution for global warming, I say come to Pennsylvania and take a little look around at our nuke plants. Sleeping guards at one (and this isn't the first incident of its kind at Peach Bottom) and smoke coming out of only two towers at the other (because one half of the plant is full of nuke waste from that little "oops" in the '70s.

I was in school at the time, and we got another week off. Many kids running for the east coast, where panicky parents got very scary reports. (It seems what we heard there was a lot of "don't worry, no big deal").

Yeah, all the "advantages" aside, until someone can answer what to do with the toxic and very long-lasting waste, nuclear power isn't something I'm interested in.

Like Homer Simpson did.