Nuclear plant security called nightmare

WASHINGTON — It's a nightmare that scientists say could happen.

Terrorists penetrate a nuclear power plant but ignore the concrete-protected reactor. They're really after the pool of water containing hundreds of used fuel rods.

Explosive charges lead to an uncontrollable fire, sending radiation into the air.

A National Academy of Sciences report released Wednesday concludes such an event could happen. It also says the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and nuclear industry have not done enough to understand the vulnerability.

It's "a critical national security issue," said the academy's president, Bruce Alberts, after the release of a report subject to haggling with regulators over how much of it should remain secret.

The scientific experts found many of the fuel storage pools at nuclear power plants in 31 states may be vulnerable and that regulators should conduct a fresh examination of each plant.

In the meantime, plant operators promptly should reconfigure used fuel rods in the storage pools to lower decay-heat intensity and install spray devices to reduce the risk of a fire should a storage facility be attacked, the scientists said.

Congress sought the study because of the heightened concerns that terrorists might seek to target nuclear power plants.

At 68 plants, including some already shut down, in 31 states, thousands of used reactor fuel rods are in deep water pools. Dry, concrete casks hold a smaller number of these rods.

Much more highly radioactive fuel is stored in pools than is in the more protected reactors — 103 in total — at these sites.

Some scientists and nuclear watchdog groups long have contended that these pools pose a much greater danger to a catastrophic attack than do the reactors themselves.

Some plants where pools are all or partially underground present less of a problem. Others, including a series of boiling-water reactors where pools are more exposed, represent greater concern, said Bob Alvarez, a former Energy Department official who has argued for increased protection of used reactor fuel at nuclear plants.

The experts' report "pretty well legitimizes what we've been saying," Alvarez said in an interview.

The scientific panel said reinforced concrete storage pools — 25 feet to 45 feet deep, with water circulating to keep the fuel assemblies from overheating — could tempt terrorists.