New York Nuke Drill Includes Plane Crash Into Reactor

When New York state and federal officials staged a disaster drill at the Indian Point nuclear power plant, the scenario Wednesday included the crash of an aircraft into the plant's containment building.

The drill began when Connecticut State Police reported pulling over a car with two men of Middle Eastern descent. A search of the car revealed automatic weapons and literature regarding the Indian Point plant. In their roles according to the drill, state police officers notified federal officials, who in turn told the plant's owners the threat was a credible one. They said there might be an aerial attack on the way and ordered the plant to shut down.

Within hours, the scenario called for an airplane to fly into the plant and knock out a critical power relay. That caused a pump inside the nuclear power generation facility to fail and threatened a reactor-core meltdown.

Eventually, those participating in the simulation "evacuated" more than 100,000 Westchester County (NY) residents from areas near the plant and ordered everyone to take their iodine pills.

"Every event is different," he told the Westchester Journal-News. "Every drill is different, and you can't predict how everybody is going to respond when a real event occurs," said former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, on hand to assess the drill. "But the key to handling any event is planning, practicing and preparing. Based on what I've seen, this is probably one of the most secure plants I've ever seen."

But the drill was abruptly stopped before reaching conclusion. In the scenario, there was no response to the potential for a meltdown and the traffic almost sure to snarl roadways for hours was never assessed.

"What good was any of this?" asked Susan Tolchin, chief adviser to Westchester County Chief Executive Andrew Spano, at the conclusion of the event. "We wanted the drill to test a fast-breaking scenario. Not only did we not get a (radiation) release, we only got a slow-breaking development that gave plenty of time for evacuation, which only showed what they wanted to show, that we can evacuate small numbers at a time. (Spano's) position has not changed — he wants the plant closed."

But at least they broached the subject, said Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), whose Chappaqua home is just 15 miles from the Indian River plant. "It is vital that the threat assumptions used in testing and improving Indian Point security reflect the realities of the post-9/11 world, so mock drills that include a terrorism scenario such as today's exercise are crucial to that effort."

FMI: www.dhs.gov