Giuliani Promotes Indian Pt. Terror Drill

NY Times ^ | July 17, 2003 | LISA W. FODERARO

[presidio9]

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, visited Westchester County today to speak on behalf of one of his new clients, Entergy Nuclear Northeast, as it prepares for an antiterrorism drill at its Indian Point nuclear power complex.

The visit was part of an elaborate presentation by Entergy that blended the thrills of a summer action picture — an M-16 semiautomatic rifle firing blanks at an Indian Point security officer — and Mr. Giuliani's star power. It seemed designed to take back some of the attention that has lately focused on Entergy's critics, who have attacked the nuclear site's operations and its emergency evacuation plans.

Mr. Giuliani, whose consulting firm, Giuliani Partners, was hired by Entergy in April to advise the company on security and emergency planning, spoke about the usefulness of preparedness drills. He cited exercises that the city undertook while he was mayor — a mock airplane crash in Queens and an imaginary sarin gas attack in Lower Manhattan.

"We did so many drills and exercises, there was probably a point after a while that we thought we were going through too many," he said in a news conference at Westchester County Airport here. "And on Sept. 11 and 12 and 13, all those drills and exercises became enormously important."

The antiterrorism drill, involving commando-style raids in which mock terrorists try to foil the defenses at the plant, in Buchanan, N.Y., is part of a federal pilot program and will take place during several days sometime this summer, Entergy officials said. But the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, which will monitor the drill, refused to say precisely when, citing security concerns.

Before Sept. 11, all nuclear power plants underwent such drills every eight years. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the drills were suspended, as security forces at the nation's nuclear reactors were on high alert, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission focused on strengthening security guidelines.

Next year, the exercises will resume, with each of the nuclear sites undergoing drills at least once every three years, said Neil A. Sheehan, an N.R.C. spokesman. But this year, 15 nuclear sites will conduct drills under the pilot program, using the agency's new guidelines, which expand the threat from the mock adversaries. The final guidelines will be in place by the end of 2004, Mr. Sheehan said.

At Indian Point, which has two nuclear reactors, pseudoterrorists will be given a layout of the complex, as well as its defense strategy. They will then try to penetrate that defense in several mock attacks, using sophisticated laser-tag equipment and coming at the security officers from land and, possibly, from the Hudson River, said James Knubel, Entergy Nuclear Northeast's vice president for nuclear affairs.

Mr. Knubel said Indian Point will have two separate security forces in place during the drill, one to respond to the mock assailants and the other to maintain existing security in the event of a real attack. Therefore, the security officers will have warning of the timing of the drill.

Mr. Knubel said the mock attack would not come from the air, although elected officials and environmental activists have said since Sept. 11 that the plant is most vulnerable to sabotage from above.

The N.R.C. does not plan to grade Indian Point on the exercise, and Entergy officials stressed today that the drill is not a test. Rather, it is a chance for both the N.R.C. and Entergy to learn what improvements may be needed in the plant's defense.

Moreover, the N.R.C. does not intend to tell the public how the security force at Indian Point performed during the drill, Mr. Sheehan said, adding that critics of the nuclear industry have manipulated results released about such exercises in the past.

Opponents of Indian Point faulted the advance notice that the guards would receive about the drills.

"It's troubling because we know that in the real world the terrorists are not going to tip their hand and let Entergy know they are coming," said Kyle M. Rabin, the policy analyst for Riverkeeper, an environmental group.

Mr. Rabin also dismissed Mr. Giuliani's involvement as a "P.R. move," saying Entergy was "hiding behind the popularity" of the former mayor. And he ridiculed the idea of training for an assault originating on the ground, instead of one coming through the air.

Mr. Knubel defended the exercises. "This is as real as it can get without actually firing real bullets and people getting hurt," he said.

[presidio9]

More shamless opportunism by cynical greens. They are against nuclear power anywhere, anytime, and will employ any means to stop it. Indian Point is one of the most secure facilities on the plant. Rudy's participation is calculated to demonstrate just that. The author's take on things is that Rudy perceives a very real threat, which does not exist.

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