In February 1997, security guards at the Waterford nuclear plant outside New Orleans, Louisiana made an unusual (hopefully) discovery:

The licensee notified two local sheriff’s departments that site security found a box labeled “explosives” in a building located outside the protected area but on licensee controlled property. The explosives may have been used to test an explosive detector at the protected area entrance. The building has been secured awaiting the arrival of the Jefferson Parish sheriff’s office personnel.

Our Takeaway

Does this make you wonder how they test the bulletproof glass used at Waterford?

On second thought, I withdraw the question. They don’t need any more bad security ideas.

“Fission Stories” is a weekly feature by Dave Lochbaum. For more information on nuclear power safety, see the nuclear safety section of UCS’s website and our interactive map, the Nuclear Power Information Tracker.

Posted in: fission stories Tags: fission stories, nuclear power, nuclear power safety

About the author: Mr. Lochbaum received a BS in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1979 and worked as a nuclear engineer in nuclear power plants for 17 years. In 1992, he and a colleague identified a safety problem in a plant where they were working. When their concerns were ignored by the plant manager, the utility, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), they took the issue to Congress. The problem was eventually corrected at the original plant and at plants across the country. Lochbaum joined UCS in 1996 to work on nuclear power safety. He spent a year in 2009-10 working at the NRC Training Center in Tennessee. Areas of expertise: Nuclear power safety, nuclear technology and plant design, regulatory oversight, plant license renewal and decommissioning

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