Conflicts cited in Nuclear Security

Efforts to secure nuclear generation sites are being scrutinized over possible conflicts of interests:

The GAO report upset committee chair Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., who criticized NRC's sluggishness in implementing post-Sept 11 security reforms. People who live near reactors "and those farther downwind take little comfort from a cozy, indulgent regulatory process that looks and acts very much like business as usual," Shays said in a statement Tuesday. "Findings of security violations elicit promises of correction, but little NRC follow-up. Emergency response plans (for nuclear disasters) may not be current."

Wells' comments also suggested a potential conflict of interest in how simulations of terrorist attacks are conducted. The potential conflict arises, he stated, from the fact the NRC is considering hiring the "terrorist" impersonators from a firm that was selected by the nuclear industry's own trade association, the Nuclear Energy Institute, and that already provides security guards to half the plants where such exercises are to be conducted.

"The company's relationship with the (nuclear) industry raises questions about the (mock terrorist) force's independence," Wells' report says. The GAO report does not identify the company by name, and it could not be determined Tuesday.

Shays concurred: "A proposal to hire an attacking force from the same company used to protect several (nuclear) plants raises legitimate concerns about the integrity" of future simulated attacks.