U.S. nuclear regulator nixes air defenses

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted 5-0 that nuclear power plants do not require additional protection from commandeered passenger planes.

The vote was in response to a 2004 petition from a Los Angeles non-profit group, the Committee to Bridge the Gap, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The committee's president, Daniel Hirsch, argued the country's 103 nuclear facilities were the most likely target for terrorists.

"Nuclear power plants are pre-emplaced nuclear weapons near major cities," Hirsch said. "They can't blow up like a nuclear bomb, but they can release a thousand times the radiation of the Hiroshima bomb."

The NRC said that guarding against airborne attacks was the job of the military and other agencies, and said plant operators were already required to be prepared for fires or explosions, whatever the cause. Chairman Dale Klein also said he was satisfied with research on plant safety.

"Nuclear power plants are inherently robust structures that our studies show provide adequate protection in a hypothetical attack by an airplane," Klein said.