GAO says government underestimates threats to campus nuclear reactors
Feb. 12, 2008
Report says security requirements for reactors on college campuses have not changed since 9-11
The risks of a terrorist attack on a nuclear reactor on a college campus, and the potential consequences, have been underestimated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Government Accountability Office says. The GAO report says security requirements at the reactors have changed little since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, even though many of the reactors still run on enriched uranium, which terrorists could convert into an atomic bomb. In contrast, the rules for civilian power plants have become much stricter.