— In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, states and municipalities feared terrorists may strike infrastructure and utility targets.

Rep. Dan Williams, who was mayor of Athens when the attacks occurred, said there were concerns about water supplies being tainted. Perhaps the biggest local concern, however, was the security of Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant.

Though country’s 103 operating nuclear facilities were not targeted that day, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission required licensees to enact more stringent security measures and coordinate with local, state and federal agencies to better prepare for an attack.

“What the NRC did after the events was to look at what we could do to enhance security,” said NRC Region II spokesman Roger Hannah. “Before 9/11, they were already among the most secure facilities in the U.S.”

Without mentioning specific security actions, Hannah said some measures included increased security forces, using physical barriers and vehicle checks.

“We also took a very comprehensive look at overall threats to plants, including the study of aircraft impacts and terrorist activities to see if there were methods in place to deal with those,” Hannah said. “Another big change was just the overall communications to make sure intelligence was shared in a timely fashion.”

Following 9/11, Congress asked the National Academy of Sciences to examine terror threats to nuclear facilities. In 2005, the group found that spent fuel pools could be vulnerable to terror attacks and recommended the NRC consider moving fuel to dry casks.

The dry casks, filled with inert gas to prevent rust, are considered by some to be a safer means of storing spent fuel rods. The sealed casks are then placed in a concrete silo with cool air circulating to keep fuel below its melting point.



Still vulnerable?

The NRC considers a catastrophic incident at a nuclear plant a “design basis” event. In April 2003, the NRC issued a revised DBT, or design basis threat, requiring plant licensees to further step up safety measures. The revised plan included security measures against an insider, waterborne attacks, vehicle bombs and land-based assault threats.

Officials with the NRC and TVA told residents at a public meeting in June that Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant was designed to withstand a multitude of disasters. Rick Jobe, a professor at Athens State University, asked what would happen if an airliner or military plane crashed into the sheet metal facility housing the spent-fuel pools.

“I don’t know how possible it is, and I can’t ascribe a likelihood,” said NRC Region II deputy administrator Victor McCree at the June meeting. “After 9/11, the NRC warned about such a thing. The capabilities … in terms of processes and equipment are in place (to deal with such an emergency).”

Hannah said no nuclear plant is completely immune from a terror attack. However, he said preparation and appropriate safety measures are paramount at each facility.

“We look at the most probable kind of scenarios and try to address those,” he said. “There’s nothing that’s ever 100 percent fool-proof, but we try to implement those (safeguards).”