Security
Nuclear reactors are sitting-duck targets, poorly protected and vulnerable to sabotage or attack. If their radioactive inventories were released in the event of a serious attack, hundreds of thousands of people could die immediately, or later, due to radiation sickness or latent cancers. Vast areas of the U.S. could become national sacrifice zones - an outcome too serious to risk. Beyond Nuclear advocates for the shutdown of nuclear power.
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As reported by NetworkWorld, a "[p]ossible cyberattack on SCADA [supervisory control and data acquisition] system at small Illinois water plant highlights weakness in U.S. system of 'Fusion Centers'."
Atomic reactors and other nuclear facilities across the U.S., and in other countries, are very vulnerable to cyber-attacks that could release catastrophic amounts of hazardous radioactivity.
In a Cleveland Plain Dealer article entitled "Federal security concerns since 9/11 have turned U.S. nuclear power plants into armed fortresses," Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter questioned claims by the nuclear power industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that security at atomic reactors is strong. The article concluded:
"None of the proposed preparations to cope with a natural disaster or a terrorist attack are adequate, said Paul Gunter, director of the reactor oversight project for Beyond Nuclear, an anti-nuclear group.
'The fundamental issue is how can you make something that is inherently dangerous safe,' he challenged. 'This is all spin. The vulnerability of nuclear power plants to the loss of offsite power remains an issue coming out of Fukushima as well as 9-11.' "
As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks draws near, it is sobering and enlightening to remember a 2004 report written by Dr. Ed Lyman at Union of Concerned Scientists. Entitled "Chernobyl on the Hudson? The Health and Economic Impacts of a Terrorist Attack at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant," the report concludes that despite a successful evacuation, up to 44,000 early fatalities would still be possible due to catastrophic radioactivity releases. Similarly, "over 500,000 latent cancer fatalities could occur under certain meteorological conditions." In addition, "The economic impact and disruption for New York City residents resulting from a terrorist attack on Indian Point could be immense, involving damages from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars, and the permanent displacement of millions of individuals. This would dwarf the impacts of the September 11 attacks." Although Riverkeeper, the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, and even New York Governor Cuomo continue to oppose Indian Point's 20 year license extension, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission appears poised to approve it, as it has more than 70 other license extensions at atomic reactors across the U.S.
Although this story by CNN does not mention nuclear power plants explicitly, it does feature a photograph of one! As the anti-nuclear movement has warned since even long before the 9/11 attacks, but especially so since, nuclear power plants and radioactive waste storage facilities are potentially catastrophic targets for terrorist attack, dirty bombs in our backyard of immense size.
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ABC News was explicit about nuclear power plants in its coverage of this story, reporting:
"U.S. officials were stunned last year in Yemen with the arrest of an alleged American recruit to al Qaeda, Sharif Mobley, of New Jersey, who had been employed as five different U.S. nuclear power plants in and around Pennsylvania after successfully passing federal background checks."
Iran has charged that an extremely dangerous “foreign-made” computer worm, “Stuxnet”, has infected tens of thousands of its industrial computer systems. According to international computer security experts, the computer worm targets electricity facilities using Siemens control systems including Iran’s nearly operational Bushehr nuclear power plant in what is being called the first case of cyber-sabotage of an industrial system.
The still mutating computer worm is designed to reprogram critical functions however researchers do not yet know what types of systems are targeted or how the sabotage is executed. The Islamic Republic News Agency reports that the virus is not stable and since cleanup efforts began three new versions of the infection have been spreading.
The computer worm is reported to have first been discovered in June when researchers found about 45,000 infected computers in various countries including Indonesia and India. However, leading cyber-security analysts have concluded that a system in Iran was the focus of the attack. The Washington Post quotes a researcher with the security firm Symantec, “We have never seen anything like this before. It is very dangerous.”
The controversial Bushehr nuclear power plant which would generate weapons usable plutonium as well as electricity was in the final stages of preparation for operation. Originally of German design and launched under the Shah, Iran’s first commercial nuclear power plant was being completed with the aid of Russia after nearly a quarter century of construction.
The New York Times reports “It is also raising fear of dangerous proliferation. Stuxnet has laid bare significant vulnerabilities in industrial control systems. The program is being examined for clues not only by the world’s computer security companies, but also by intelligence agencies and countless hackers.
“Proliferation is a real problem, and no country is prepared to deal with it,” said Melissa Hathaway, a former United States national cybersecurity coordinator. The widespread availability of the attack techniques revealed by the software has set off alarms among industrial control specialists, she said: “All of these guys are scared to death. We have about 90 days to fix this before some hacker begins using it.”
“The ability of Stuxnet to infiltrate these systems will 'require a complete reassessment' of security systems and processes, starting with federal technology standards and nuclear regulations, said Joe Weiss, a specialist in the security of industrial control systems who is managing partner at Applied Control Solutions in Cupertino, Calif.”
