Video narrated by Martin Sheen discussing the importance of beefing up security measures at nuclear power plants. Produced by Dan Hirsch, Kevin Petajan, and Michael Rose. Animation by Kevin Petajan, Meridian Media. Edited by Gary Evans/Kevin Petajan. Music by Eric Gosnell. Source animation material courtesy of Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition. For more information, go to committeetobridgethegap.org BACKGROUND More than four years after the tragedy of 9/11, America’s nuclear reactors remain woefully vulnerable to terrorism. Even though NINETEEN people were involved in those attacks, TIME Magazine reports that Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules require security protections against no more than FIVE external attackers on the ground, and NO protection whatsoever from attacks by air. This is despite the fact that reactors contain ONE THOUSAND times the long-lived radioactivity of the Hiroshima bomb, and release of that radioactivity could kill tens of thousands of people and leave an area the size of Pennsylvania uninhabitable for generations. Nuclear power plants thus are a kind of pre-emplaced radiological weapon, often located near our biggest cities, that can be set off by our adversaries, to devastating effect. But it need not be so. If we are to have nuclear power plants in this country — and there are strong reasons to question the wisdom of reliance on such a dangerous source of energy — then at least we should protect them from attack. Reactors should be required …
