- A high-ranking security trainer at Indian Point has blown
the whistle - the first insider willing to publicly speak to the media
on security shortfalls at the facility, which is in direct proximity to
the largest population of any nuclear power plant in the U.S. He brings
with him a compelling set of documents factually backing up his concerns.
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- Danielle Brian and the whistleblower, Foster Zeh, were
on Good Morning America this morning and a small regional New York Times
piece ran yesterday. However, this story is as yet uncovered at the national
level.
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- Contact the New York-based nonprofit Riverkeeper at the
information below to request copies of the documents or contact information
for Foster. In addition, Pete Stockton or Danielle Brian on POGO's staff
(contact info above) can tell you more about Foster, give you his contact
info, and let you know how the issues he is blowing the whistle on mirror
many of the same security failures uncovered by POGO's investigations.
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- See POGO's home page to reach its report Nuclear Power
Plant Security: Voices from Inside the Fences and comments from some of
the 140 other security guards nationwide who have expressed concerns to
POGO.
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- PRESS RELEASE December 8, 2002
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- Contact Kyle Rabin, Riverkeeper 845-424-4149 ext. 239
c: 516-220-2507
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- Indian Point Guards Say They Can't Defend Against a Terrorist
Attack Internal Entergy Report Confirms Serious Lapses With Plant Defense
Guards Blow the Whistle on Weak Security
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- New York - As reported in today's edition of the New
York Times, several active guards at the Indian Point nuclear power plant
are blowing the whistle on weak security.
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- The security concerns they have come forward with include:
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- Most security guards believe they can not defend the
plant against a terrorist attack for the following reasons:
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- * Guards believe that they are not properly armed with
weapons to defeat attackers
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- * Guards admit that they are under-qualified and under-trained
with respect to gun-handling qualifications, physical fitness tests, and
training exercises
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- * Guards are being hired with very little experience;
in some cases guards are hired who meet just the minimum requirement of
possessing a pistol permit
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- * Guards reported that qualifying exams for carrying
weapons had been rigged, in some cases, to ensure guards could pass
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- * Guards say that security drills are carefully staged
to ensure that mock attackers would be repelled
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- * Guards forced to work overtime (i.e. forced to work
6 or 7 straight days involving 12 hour to 16 hour shifts, even when ill)
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- * Guards suffer from a high fatigue level
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- * Guards have little confidence in their management
in correcting past problems
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- * Guards suffer from low morale, and do not feel obligated
to stand their post in the event of an attack; guards admit that if an
attack occurred, they would flee.
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- The facilities that house the highly dangerous irradiated
or "spent" fuel at Indian Point are vulnerable to attack. (A
catastrophic release of radioactivity from these facilities would cause
thousands of peak fatalities and injuries.)
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