To: "Raymond Shadis" <shadis@ime.net>
From: "Russell D. Hoffman" <rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com>
Subject: Re: [DOEWatch] Maine Yankee NPP-Aircraft within 20 feet of Dome?
In-Reply-To: <003901c234c6$3a94e280$d922a78e@s6s5a1>
Hi Ray, others:
In addition to the things mentioned in your letter (shown below, with your original attachments), all aircraft in America should also be required to carry a transponder which cannot be turned off, so that anti-aircraft missiles or laser cannons can home in on them more easily if they need to be shot down.
Flight controls should be able to be taken out of the hands of the pilots and given, via a radio transmitter, to law enforcement officials on the ground. In order to control a low flying, swift intruder, it would probably be best to have permanently-staffed emergency air-control rooms at each nuclear power facility, in case an airplane enters its airspace and they need to take over control right away.
Of course, the staff members of the air control room would have to be trained pilots, who can fly a plane from a remote cockpit. They are probably hard to find and expensive too, but there would hardly be time to call 911, let alone Washington. Action would have to be taken immediately. Even one "chain of command" would take too much time.
And just in case control cannot be wrestled from the pilot of the airplane, missiles, or -- better -- laser cannons (since a laser beam can't accidently circle back at the shooter) need to be permanently located at the nuclear plants and waste dumps, etc. as a last resort. They would have to have automated software which would shoot down any planes which the software deems to be a threat to the nuke plant. Fields of fire would need to be carefully pre-designed so the laser cannons could not accidentally (or on purpose) shoot at the plant, since these would be extremely powerful weapons. The software and hardware had better be extremely robust, since the lives of millions would depend on accurate assessments of the threat, and proper activation of well-designed response sequences.
Also, the nuke plants need to be able to be SCRAMed the second a threat is realized, since every moment they have to cool might be vital, and a SCRAMed reactor is much more robust than one which is fully operational. Right now (unless a secret ruling was passed since 9-11) there are NO -- ZERO -- rules telling nuclear plants they have to SCRAM the reactor if a plane is hijacked near them! Indian Point was not SCRAMed on 9-11, despite one of the hijacked airplanes flying right over it! Has the Nuclear Regulatory Commission learned anything?
All these fixes are possible today, using currently-available technology. In fact, none of it (including the automatically-controlled laser cannon) uses any technology which has not been around for decades! The price of doing all of this would be highly cost-effective if it prevented even ONE successful strike at a nuclear plant (let alone four in one day).
Such technological fixes will be sought dearly AT ANY PRICE after the first successful attack, or maybe after the second or third, but that's too late. To wait until then to protect our nuke plants is a crime against humanity.
And all such technological fixes will become even more vital as newer, vastly cheaper corporate jets are sold by the tens of thousands, as is predicted for the next decade. (The latest model is being called a "Volksjet" because it's so cheap (under $800,000, about 20% of the cost of a Cessna Citation, the corporate (and terrorist) world's most popular private jet), and will be manufactured in Mexico.)
A Volksjet can carry a huge explosive payload at tremendous speed, can fly very low to the ground, and can automatically fly a complicated, pre-programmed route. It's pilots could have even bailed out (or never got on board) -- to live and fly another plane, another day.
It will be very hard to stop, even with the set-up described herein. It would be absolutely impossible to stop, the way the nuke plants are guarded today.
My recommendation is to shut all the nuke plants down forever, for this and many other reasons, such as, that they have never provided cheap electricity as promised anyway, and no one knows what to do with the waste.
Regards,
Russell D. Hoffman
Concerned Citizen
Carlsbad, CA
Internet Glossary of Nuclear Terminology:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/hotwords/index.htm
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At 10:02 AM 7/26/02 , "Raymond Shadis" <shadis@ime.net> wrote:
FYI- The following articles were sent to us by Kris Christine of Alna, Maine. It is our position that strict no-fly zones should be in place over all nuclear and toxic chemical facilities. All general aviation aircraft flying near such facilities should be required to carry radios capable of instant communication from plant security and law enforcement as well as radar transponders and automatic radio identification devices. Yes, a small aircraft can carry enough explosives to do a great deal of damage, even to hardened structures.
Raymond Shadis
Exec.Director- Friends of the Coast
Staff Advisor- New England Coalition
207-882-7801
Wiscasset Newspaper
Wiscasset, Maine
July 18, 2002 :
Low Flying Aircraft Spotted at Maine Yankee
Charlotte Boynton
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will not be looking into an incident that occurred at Maine Yankee July 11 when a low flying aircraft flew within 20 feet of the Maine Yankee dome, because it is not against FAA regulations to do so.
According to a report given by Katherine Ferdinand, a spokesperson for Maine Yankee, plant security officials spotted the plane, which flew over the dome twice and headed for the Wiscasset Airport.
Security officials called the Wiscasset Police Department with a description of the plane, asking them to see if it landed at the airport. According to a police report on the incident, it did not land.
However, according to Arlene Salac at the FAA office in Washington D.C., and Mike Muchmore, the airport's fixed based operator, the plane did, in fact, land at the airport.
According to Salac and Muchmore, the plane was going to land on runway seven but because of a tail wind during his first approach the pilot did not think he could make a safe landing. The pilot flew over the Maine Yankee dome and turned around, landing on runway 25.
Air space over the closed nuclear power plant is not restricted, according to the FAA, but regulations do restrict planes from "loitering" over nuclear power plants.
David Lackey of Senator Olympia Snowe's office, who was also checking out the incident, said that there is an Airman's Advisory that "strongly suggests avoiding air space over nuclear plants."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lincoln County News
Damariscotta, Maine
July 26, 2002
Aircraft Flying Low Over Maine Yankee
Raises Alarm
By Greg Foster
A private plane flying low over Maine Yankee in
Wiscasset on July 9 has prompted an
investigation of safety procedures in place to
track, communicate with and investigate aircraft
that breach airspace over nuclear power
facilities. U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe is leading
the charge for answers the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) and the Transportation
Security Administration (TSA).
“In order to provide effective security for
small and rural communities, a comprehensive
strategy much include the assessments of the
threat to nuclear plants posed by light aircraft
navigation,” Snowe said this week following
information about the incident.
A security guard spotted the low-flying plane
and immediately reported it. The company
immediately informed the FAA, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) and Wiscasset police, company spokesman
Eric Howes said. Air traffic controller at
Brunswick Naval Air Station ultimately
identified the plane by its tail number,
according to Snowe.
After investigating the violation of an FAA
advisory against low flights over nuclear
plants, the FAA determined it was an inadvertent
flight, Snowe said. The pilot of the plane was
reportedly attempting to avoid a collision with
another incoming small plane landing at
Wiscasset Municipal Airport by circling once and
twice coming in the vicinity of the plant.
Maine Yankee currently does not have a no-fly
zone but does have the advisory for which the
company has a particular security protocol,
company spokesman Eric Howes said. The FAA’s
Notice to Airmen Advisory warns pilots that
flights near nuclear facilities may be reported
and investigated.
“Small and rural communities must have
confidence that the Administration is working to
safeguard the local airspace around these
facilities,” Snowe said.
To that end, Snowe announced this week that she
has requested a thorough security briefing and
feedback on way to prevent violations of
airspace over nuclear facilities by light
aircraft. She wants the FAA and TSA to provide
information on the types of actions that need to
be taken to quickly assess and respond to such
potential threats to security.
“While the incursion into Maine Yankee airspace
did not materialize into a threat, it highlights
the need for continued security awareness,”
Snowe said.
Snowe, who serves on Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation whose task
is to oversee aviation safety, considers it
imperative that air traffic controllers, local
police, and nuclear safety personnel have the
ability to communicate and determine whether
actions by aircraft present a security threat to
a nuclear facility and surrounding community,
including decommissioning plants like Maine
Yankee.
“Importantly, these officials must be given
clear procedural and safety guidelines to
promptly respond to potential threats from
non-commercial aircraft,” Snowe said.
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 during
periods of the high threat to homeland security,
the NRC and FAA have taken steps to close
airspace over nuclear facilities, but currently
that is not the case for Maine Yankee, which is
no longer operating. With the present medium
level of threat, the FAA has reopened airspace
around nuclear facilities.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Times Record
Brunswick, Maine - July 23, 2002
Plane's flight near Yankee spurs inquiry
Bob_Kalish@TimesRecord.Com
07/23/2002
WISCASSET — Following a low-fly incident near the closed Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, asked two federal agencies to review safety procedures designed to protect nuclear power facilities.
Snowe made the request to the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration.
"In order to provide effective security for small and rural communities, a comprehensive strategy must include the assessments of the threat to nuclear plants posed by light aircraft navigation," Snowe said. "I am requesting that the FAA and TSA provide information on the types of actions that need to be taken to quickly assess and respond to these threats. Small and rural communities must have confidence that the administration is working to safeguard the local airspace around these facilities."
Snowe is a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which oversees aviation safety.
According to Maine Yankee spokesman Eric Howes, the incident occurred on July 9 when a light plane was spotted by the plant's security at low altitude over the plant, which has been in the process of being decommissioned since 1997.
"Our security did just what it is supposed to do," Howes said. "It notified the FAA, the FBI, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Wiscasset Police."
Air traffic controllers at Brunswick Naval Air Station eventually identified the aircraft by its tail numbers and the FAA determined that the flyover was "inadvertent," caused when a plane approaching the Wiscasset Airport circled to avoid another approaching plane.
Following the Sept. 11 attacks, the FAA issued a "Notice to Airmen Advisory" warning pilots that flights near nuclear facilities may be reported and investigated. The Wiscasset Airport changed its procedure so that planes landing there approach the airport from the other side so they don't fly over Maine Yankee airspace.
"Since the FAA advisory last fall," Howes said, "we're seeing very few planes."
But Snowe, upon learning of the incident, requested a security briefing and feedback on ways to prevent violations of nuclear airspace by light aircraft. She also is seeking an explanation of safety procedures in place to track, communicate with and investigate aircraft that breach the airspace of the nation's active nuclear facilities as well as those being decommissioned, according to a statement released by her office.
Dave Lackey, Snowe's spokesman, this morning said the senator wanted to be sure the incident didn't highlight a problem.
"A light aircraft wouldn't pose a threat to Maine Yankee," Lackey said. "But the senator wanted to make sure authorities have the proper information to respond."
Lincoln County News, July 25, 2002 article by Greg Foster, Aircraft Flying Low Over Maine Yankee Raises Alarm, at: http://www.mainelincolncountynews.com/index.cfm?ID=1384
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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