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NEWS RELEASE Contact:
Progress Admits Security Problems at
Harris N-Plant
More
Guards Confirm Vulnerabilities, Retaliation; Federal Investigators Arrive
As reported in today’s
Raleigh News & Observer, Progress Energy has confirmed that a Harris guard reported
being fired on while on patrol in August, putting the plant on heightened alert. The company spoke further about a number of
security doors found unsecured for an unknown time period. In a letter today to Progress CEO Robert
McGehee, NC WARN pointed to discrepancies in the company’s public statements
and urged him to personally order full cooperation with federal and state
investigators, including determining how many doors were left unsecured, and
for how long. Guards say the problems
have apparently persisted for years; federal law requires an unsecured door to
be reported within one hour, and a guard posted until its repair.
Since NC WARN and the Union
of Concerned Scientists filed a December 13th complaint based on 15
hours of interviews with a Harris guard, other guards have contacted the groups
and The Independent Weekly. They confirmed
the allegations of a climate of lax security and reprisals against guards
reporting vulnerabilities such as failing doors to vital areas, inoperable plant
gates, falsified security records and forced cheating on certification exams. The guards say plant managers interfere with
guards inspecting vehicles at checkpoints, and force guards to work with severe
injuries that impair their ability to defend against potential intruders.
“It’s hard to tell how widespread these
failures go,” said NC WARN’s
Senior NRC officials told NC
WARN and Union of Concerned Scientists this week that on-site inspectors have
now “verified” about half of Harris’ security doors, but could not discuss how
many might have been unsecured. The
officials indicated they are stepping up their involvement by sending a team of
security investigators to Harris next week to confidentially interview guards
and audit plant records. The NRC’s Inspector General has begun its own investigation
because guards say NRC allowed their complaints of security failings to go
uncorrected. The watchdog groups say NC
Attorney General Roy Cooper is responsible for charges involving criminal
activity and for contractor Securitas and its guards.
In a letter today to Progress
CEO Robert McGehee, NC WARN and UCS detailed discrepancies in Progress’ public
statements about malfunctioning doors, and noted that neither the company nor
NRC have confirmed that doors have been fixed or how long they were unsecured. They pointed out that felony charges could
ensue if it is confirmed that guards were ordered not to check doors – some to
Vital Areas – or report their inoperability.
“In the absence of any contradictory
evidence, it is prudent to assume the other serious
allegations from your plant guards are
also accurate,” NC WARN told
McGehee in the letter.
MacDowell said the public has
a right to know about the system failings at Harris: “We’re urging Mr. McGehee and Attorney General
Cooper not to let their people hide behind bogus claims of ‘security’ to
obscure Shearon Harris’ problems,” he
said. “There is no legitimate reason
the problems that have so far surfaced should be considered ‘security sensitive’
unless they have not been corrected.”
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Letter to CEO McGehee: http://www.ncwarn.org/Campaigns/NuclearWatchdog/Ltr%20to%20R%20McGehee%20Jan%205.pdf