Ten Dangerous Scenarios

Attack a nuclear plant

Cripple the
Transportation System

Destroy the
Fort Peck Dam

Detonate a suitcase bomb

Attack the Alaska pipeline

Contaminate a ventilation system

Cut off power to
a major city

Shoot down
Air Force One

Attack a chemical factory

Destroy a stadium

>> See the entire list <<

Scenario: Truck Bomb Attack on a Nuclear Power Plant

Scenario

Detonate a truck bomb near a nuclear power plant, its high-level waste storage area, or the cooling system.

Description

The truck bomb scenario describes the significant destructive force of a large truck bomb. Nuclear plants are a potential target for a truck bomb attack for two reasons:

  • A major explosion at a nuclear plant could release significant amounts of radioactive waste into the atmosphere, contaminating a large area.
  • Nuclear plants are power plants, and the destruction of power plants might be part of a larger strategy to destabilize the power grid in a state or region.
The reactor at any commercial nuclear power plant is protected by a massive concrete containment structure. It is unclear whether a truck bomb would have the explosive power necessary to breach containment. However, there are two other targets available at most plants.

The first is the storage area for spent fuel rods. There is, as yet, no permanent storage facility for high-level nuclear waste in the United States. Therefore, nuclear plants store their spent fuel rods on-site either in deep pools of water or in dry casks. In either case, the storage areas contain large quantities of radioactive fuel and they are not normally hardened in any way like the reactors are. For example, many storage pools are protected from the elements by corrugated steel buildings and nothing more. A truck bomb detonated close to a storage pool or dry storage facility could cause a significant release of nuclear material.

The second is the cooling system. Damaging the cooling systems for either the reactor or the storage pool would cause a serious problem for the plant. At the very least the plant would have to shut down for repairs, and the timeline would be significant. In severe cases of redundant system failure, the plant or storage pools could overheat and cause a release of nuclear material into the atmosphere. Potential cooling system targets include:

  • The cooling tower. The tower is often wide open to attack and would be either damaged or destroyed by a truck bomb.
  • The cooling system for the storage pool
  • The lake. Many nuclear plants use a nearby lake as a water supply for cooling. A truck bomb could potentially destroy the lake's dam and drain the lake, or could destroy the water intake system.

An Example

The Shearon-Harris nuclear power plant, located about 15 miles from Raleigh, NC, is an excellent example of a terrorist target. Shearon-Harris has a very large storage facility for spent nuclear fuel rods.

Here is a map showing terrorist routes into the facility:


A map of the Shearon-Harris complex showing roads, power lines and railroad

Click here for an aerial photo of Shearon-Harris nuclear power plant. Zoom in and out to see the roads, the cooling tower, the reactor, etc.

These photos were taken on February 23, 2002:


A photo of the main entrance to the Shearon-Harris complex.
Note that chain-link barriers behind the guard are open.


A photo of the back entrance to the Shearon-Harris complex.
This gate is unprotected. A truck could drive through without pause.

The main entrance has a chain link fence. There is one guard in the photo, and another to the right. You can drive right up to the entrance along Shearon-Harris road, and at that point you are just one mile away from the reactor. If you were a terrorist wanting to drive a truck bomb into this facility to blow up the cooling tower, you could:

  • Lead with a car carrying several terrorist who shoot the guards at the main entrance, then drive the truck in through the open gate. Or,
  • Drive the truck right though the back gate. Or,
  • Load the bomb in a Humvee and travel along the power line right-of-way with 4 wheel drive.
There may also be a clear route in along the railroad track. You could purchase or steal a truck that drives on rails. There is also a potential water route that you can see on the aerial photo.

In other words, this facility is wide open as a target.

Damage Potential

If the attack releases nuclear material into the atmosphere, and especially if the plant is near an urban area, there will be public exposure to radioactive material. Damage depends on prevailing winds, amount of material released and other factors. However, a successful truck bomb attack on a large storage pool would contaminate a wide area with highly toxic nuclear waste and create a significant health threat.

Any significant explosion near a nuclear plant, whether it did significant damage or not, would take the plant off-line for a long period of time. A serious explosion would close the plant permanently.

A successful terrorist attack on any of the nuclear plants in the U.S. would almost certainly cause all of the other plants in the country to close at least temporarily (in the same way that all airline traffic was grounded on September 11 and several days following). If all the plants needed to close, it would have a significant effect on the power grid. There are over 100 nuclear power plants operating in the U.S., and they produce approximately 20% of the nation's electric power. Taking 20% of the power-generating capacity off the grid on short notice would have serious repercussions, because the rest of the grid will collapse unless demand is reduced at the same time.

Potential Solutions

Obviously, a facility containing thousands of pounds of highly toxic nuclear waste, as well as an active reactor core, should be a maximum security location. It should be impossible to drive a truck bomb in, to send in a small team of terrorists on foot at night, or to crash an airplane onto the site.

Securing a nuclear plant from a truck bomb attack should, at the very least, involve the following:

  • Create a concrete barrier, impenetrable to a truck, that completely surrounds the facility, with plenty of distance between the plant and any potential bomb. A 1-mile radius for this barrier is probable. This barrier should be 6 to 8-feet high and topped with razor wire so that entry on foot involves scaling it. Guards, dogs, cameras, motion dectors and infrared sensors should watch this perimeter.
  • Create a second, wider perimeter to implement a guard zone free of any uninspected vehicles and personnel, perhaps at a 2 or 3-mile radius.
  • The area between the outer and inner perimeter should be clear, so that anyone or anything approaching the plant is obvious.
  • Inspect all vehicles entering and leaving the facility at the outer perimeter.
Perhaps other perimeters would be established as well. The fact that anyone can drive right up to the main entrace of Shearon-Harris, less than 1 mile from the plant, is obviously unsafe. The terrorists simply shoot the two guards and drive right in. Shearon-Harris Road should not be open.

With multiple perimeters, plant security would have time to send in a response team to stop or blow up a truck bomb before it reaches the plant. Tire slashing equipment, exploding roads, etc. might also be employed.

The point is, a nuclear plant should be so secure that it is impossible to enter. Anything less makes the plant an open target that has the potential to destroy an entire urban area.

The other security hole is the sky. This scenario discusses the idea of making planes smart, using their auto-pilots and GPS systems, so that they simply refuse to fly over restricted airspace like that above a nuclear power plant. A nuclear plant is the most important reason for a measure like this.

In addition, there would need to be barriers to protect the lake, water intakes from the lake, etc.

A coordinated terrorist strategy might try to destabilize and collapse the electrical grid in the U.S. by taking a large number of power plants off-line simultaneously. Attacking one or more nuclear plants would be an effective part of that strategy. In order to prepare for such a scenario, the nation would need to know how to react if 25% or 35% of the nation's electrical generating capacity were to go off-line over the course of just an hour or two. A coordinated response would require the cooperation of the general public in order to reduce electrical demand during the emergency. There is a great deal that the U.S. can do to prepare for this scenario -- see Solutions.

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