Return-Path: <sentto-279987-2076-1000927903-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com> Delivered-To: fc@all.net Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Wed, 19 Sep 2001 12:34:09 -0700 (PDT) Received: (qmail 10770 invoked by uid 510); 19 Sep 2001 19:32:07 -0000 Received: from n33.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.83) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 19 Sep 2001 19:32:07 -0000 X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-2076-1000927903-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com Received: from [10.1.4.55] by ei.egroups.com with NNFMP; 19 Sep 2001 19:31:43 -0000 X-Sender: fc@big.all.net X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_2_2); 19 Sep 2001 19:31:42 -0000 Received: (qmail 70371 invoked from network); 19 Sep 2001 19:31:41 -0000 Received: from unknown (10.1.10.27) by l9.egroups.com with QMQP; 19 Sep 2001 19:31:41 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta2 with SMTP; 19 Sep 2001 19:31:41 -0000 Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id MAA02790 for iwar@onelist.com; Wed, 19 Sep 2001 12:31:41 -0700 Message-Id: <200109191931.MAA02790@big.all.net> To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List) Organization: I'm not allowed to say X-Mailer: don't even ask X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1] From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net> Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com Precedence: bulk List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com> Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 12:31:41 -0700 (PDT) Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com Subject: [iwar] [fc:Nuclear.plants.at.risk.from.airborne.suicide.bombers:.IAEA] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Nuclear plants at risk from airborne suicide bombers: IAEA VIENNA, Sept 19 (AFP) - Nuclear plants across the world are at risk from airborne suicide attacks similar to those which rocked the United States last week, International Atomic Energy Agency experts said. There are dozens of different types of nuclear reactor in more than 400 plants worldwide, making them, as well as huge numbers of other targets, very difficult to protect. That difficulty means the annual general assembly of the IAEA, being held in Vienna until Friday, is focused on the threat of nuclear proliferation rather than that of hypothetical terrorist attacks on nuclear plants. "Electricity is a key element to the functioning of western societies. The West's reliance on electricity, much of it from nuclear sources, is such that a nuclear plant would be a potential weak point for terrorists to pick out," IAEA spokesman David Kyd said Tuesday. The combination of the impact of a large jet of 200 tons or more with the detonation of the fuel, if it were tanked up like the planes which attacked New York and Washington last week, could damage a containment dome and a reactor to the extent of a nuclear catastrophe, according to Kyd. But reactors are low bumps on the landscape which are difficult to find or reach between immense cooling towers which stand out, he said. The impact of an attack on a nuclear plant would not be bigger than the bombing of an oil refinery, a chemical factory or a standard electricity plant, Kyd went on. "But nuclear installations have a special mystique attached to them," he said. All American nuclear plants, as well as reactors dedicated to research, have been put on maximum alert since the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. But the 438 active nuclear plants throughout the world are difficult to protect, Kyd said. There are dozens of different types of them. The United States, home to a quarter of the world's nuclear plants, has more than 20 models. Great Britain has half a dozen. "I don't know what kind of reinforcement could give you a guarantee to withstand the impact," Kyd said. During the Cold War, Germany built reinforced plants to protect against possible collisions with fighter planes because of the large number of NATO training flights that took place in its airspace. But while these reinforcements were deemed safe in the face of unarmed aircraft, their usefulness against fighter planes carrying live ammunition was questionable, a former NATO expert explained. In spite of disaster scenarios, the American government has focused its reaction on the risks of proliferation and the hijacking of fissile materials, at the time of the IAEA general assembly's opening. "We cannot assume that tomorrow's terrorist acts will mirror those we have just experienced," said US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. He asked the IAEA to increase its efforts to stop nuclear proliferation and the illicit trade in nuclear materials, which is seeing an upsurge. Following a lull between 1995 and 1998, the IAEA has seized six loads of 0.4 to six grammes of uranium or enriched plutonium since the beginning of 1999 in the former Soviet republics and the Balkans. It takes at least eight kilogrammes of plutonium or 25 kilogrammes of highly enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb, according to experts. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Get VeriSign's FREE GUIDE: "Securing Your Web Site for Business." Learn about using SSL for serious online security. Click Here! http://us.click.yahoo.com/LgMkJD/I56CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ------------------ http://all.net/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-09-29 21:08:45 PDT