WARN to the flag incident, which remains under investigation by the Wake County Sheriff and the FBI. He is the same person who initially alerted N.C. WARN Executive Director Jim Warren say they do not know the identity of the whistle-blower who is the primary source for their complaint, they believe him to be reliable. The Independent called Progress for comment, but the company did not respond by the paper’s deadline.Īlthough Lochbaum and N.C. The best of INDY Week’s fiercely independent journalism about the Triangle delivered straight to your inbox. ![]() “They suggest there may be seams in the security at the plant that would make it possible for bad guys to cause problems.” “Given the breadth and depth of the alleged problems, I think they’re clearly above threshold for having state and federal authorities look into them quickly,” says David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer and prominent safety expert with UCS. The whistleblowers’ claims reinforce the groups’ longstanding concerns about nuclear plant security, especially in the post-9/11 United States. ![]() WARN has been fighting with help from UCS. The complaint also comes as Progress and other utilities nationwide have announced plans to expand their nuclear capacity, an effort N.C. And the Government Accountability Office last month began a study of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s oversight of the nation’s 103 nuclear reactors–particularly whether the plants are being operated safely and securely. Former members of the 9/11 Commission last week issued a report card giving the Department of Homeland Security a D for failing to take adequate steps to protect the nation’s nuclear plants. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network of Durham, lands on officials’ desks as nuclear security is gaining renewed attention nationally. ![]() The complaint, filed Tuesday by the Union of Concerned Scientists of Cambridge, Mass., and the N.C. The vandalism was discovered before a possible derailment occurred. And the same day as the flag incident at Shearon Harris, a rail line leaving Progress Energy’s Brunswick nuclear plant near Wilmington was sabotaged, with someone driving spikes into a switching mechanism. In August, a security guard came under rifle fire from the woods near Shearon Harris, leading to a lockdown of the plant. But the complaint describes other incidents that haven’t become publicly known. In a well-publicized incident, someone trespassed into the owner-controlled buffer area near Shearon Harris last month and left a black flag near the top of a 100-foot communications tower. It also says that the company discourages guards from reporting on-the-job injuries, resulting in security staff working at less than full physical capacity.Įven more worrying, the security problems have been allowed to continue while Progress Energy’s North Carolina nuclear operations have apparently been the target of hostile intruders. The complaint, parts of which have been redacted out of security concerns, cites problems that include orders to save time by not searching incoming vehicles, malfunctioning doors leading to vital parts of the facility, widespread cheating on state security certification tests, and weapons violations in protected areas. Attorney General Roy Cooper detailing anonymous guards’ concerns–and their allegations have been confirmed by another guard interviewed separately by the Independent. National and local nuclear watchdog groups filed a complaint Tuesday with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the NRC Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and N.C. ![]() Armed guards at Progress Energy’s Shearon Harris nuclear power plant near Raleigh have blown the whistle on what they describe as lax security resulting from a corporate culture focused on containing costs.
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