Home - Yahoo! - My Yahoo! - News Alerts - Help

Print Business Docs Here

Home | Top Stories | Business | Tech | Politics | World | Local | Entertainment | Sports | Science | Health 

Politics Headlines

Thursday November 29 7:07 PM ET

Democrats Want Nuke Plant Guards to Be Federal Workers

By Chris Baltimore

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic lawmakers in both houses of the U.S. Congress unveiled legislation on Thursday to bolster nuclear power plant security by requiring guards at the nation's 103 plants to become federal employees with more extensive screening and training.

If enacted, the House and Senate bills would require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to enact tough new security measures such as extensive background checks for guards and the preparation of plans to handle military-style attacks.

Senate sponsors of the bill did not say how much it would cost to convert guards at the 103 commercial plants into federal employees. Congress recently voted to adopt a similar approach with security inspectors at commercial U.S. airports.

The NRC has previously said it is unsure whether U.S. nuclear power plants could withstand the crash of a large airliner, such as the ones hijacked for the Sept. 11 attacks. Nuclear power reactors are typically enclosed in concrete walls of up to 4.5 feet (1.35 meters) thick.

Senate Democrats Harry Reid of Nevada, Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Hillary Clinton of New York are sponsoring the Senate version of the bill, as part of the anti-terrorism effort following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

In the House, the bill is championed by Massachusetts Democrat Edward Markey, a long-time critic of current nuclear plant safety.

``Congress must act to protect the American people from a potential nuclear disaster that could be more devastating than Chernobyl,'' he said, noting that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has reportedly targeted nuclear plants for attack.

Markey's bill also would require states to stockpile potassium iodide within 200 miles of nuclear facilities. The drug is ``the Cipro for nuclear disaster and can prevent thousands of cases of thyroid cancer due to radioactive exposure,'' he said.

The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), the industry's main lobbying arm, said that plants already have enough safeguards.

The nuclear industry group called the legislation a ''political response to a problem that does not exist'' and noted that plants are already guarded by ``paramilitary'' employees who are armed and well-trained.

Nuclear power watchdog groups have urged stricter security such as soldiers and missiles stationed at each nuclear power plant.