Global Security Newswire

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs more information to ensure extremists cannot find employment at the country's atomic energy facilities, the commission's inspector general said in a report released yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 2).

The report cites reviews of criminal databases and details on applicants' visits to other nations as key in vetting potential employees, according to the Associated Press.

The nuclear site security review was undertaken following the revelation that accused al-Qaeda operative Sharif Mobley was employed by contractors at several East Coast nuclear power sites from 2002 to 2008 (see GSN, March 15).

"The terrorists look for our weak pressure points and it's certainly possible they may say, 'Maybe we can send someone to infiltrate a nuclear power plant,'" said Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who requested the security audit. "It's not that these power plants are rife with terrorists ... but all you need is one."

Schumer applauded the NRC recommendations as "concrete" and "actionable" and said they must be implemented within one month, he said.

"It is well past time that these safeguards are put in place," concurred U.S. Representative Bill Owens (D-N.Y.).

Commission officials said their existing access to databases was "robust," but they agreed with the inspector general's overall recommendations.

"We had already started working on some issues and enhancements," NRC spokeswoman Holly Harrington said. "We do expect other enhancements based on their recommendations that will be implemented in the future."

The audit advises permitting NRC officials unobstructed access to background information on atomic energy site workers across the country. Also recommended was routine comparison of names on a terrorist watch list with identities of people who could enter enter a nuclear facility and enhancing plant personnel training on identifying and alerting authorities to "behaviors associated with terrorist intent." Job seekers for positions that involve "unescorted access to nuclear power plants" should be required to disclose their travel history abroad, according to the report (Michael Gormley, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Oct. 4).

Commission Assistant Inspector General Stephen Dingbaum said significant portions of the audit had been redacted because they "revealed security vulnerabilities" at atomic power sites, the New York Times reported.

The NRC report says that Mobley, while employed at the power plants, told fellow union members that "we are brothers in the union, but if a holy war comes look out," frequented "unusual" websites, and referred to people who were not Muslim as "infidels." Mobley is alleged to have joined al-Qaeda in Yemen, where he is charged with shooting a hospital security officer during a March 7 escape attempt.

Current U.S. regulations fail to address temporary employees like Mobley who find work at multiple nuclear power plants, said Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. An employee is not obligated to undergo another background check even after a layoff of months, he said.

"This report does not go far enough to close that loophole," Lyman said (Scott Shane, New York Times, Oct. 4).