Plants are aging and failing

Commercial nuclear plants experienced nearly 200 significant reported safety problems between 1986 and 2006.  For example, in March 2002, a six inch hole was discovered in the aging reactor vessel at the Davis-Besse reactor in Ohio. This left only a thin layer of stainless steel to prevent a catastrophic loss of the reactor’s coolant which could have resulted in a core meltdown and release of highly radioactive materials into the environment.  Despite these problems, the federal government is moving to relicense plants that already are beyond their designed lifespan.

No Control Over Nature

Nuclear plants are also vulnerable to natural disaster.  In the summer of 2007, an earthquake damaged a large nuclear plant in Northwestern Japan, caused 50 problems and spilled radioactive water into the Sea of Japan.

Nuclear Power Plants as Targets

According to the 9/11 Commission Report, hijackers had originally planned to crash a plane into a nuclear power plant on September 11. This could have been catastrophic since, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, none of the 103 operating nuclear reactors was designed to withstand the impact of a Boeing 767 jetliner.

Infiltration

Nuclear facilities have limited security forces and there are serious questions about whether those forces are capable of fending off a terrorist attack. Only this summer guards were fired after they were found sleeping at the Peach Bottom nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Security guards at only one of four nuclear power plants are confident their plant could defeat a terrorist attack, according to interviews conducted by the Project on Government Oversight.

Theft

The theft of nuclear material from a reactor, storage facility or enrichment plant could allow terrorists to build a dirty bomb or a nuclear device. It takes less than 10 kg of enriched uranium and less than 3 kilograms of plutonium to build a nuclear bomb.