Indian Point guard accuses Entergy of major security flaws, sues for $1.52 billion

As reported by LoHud.com, Clifton “Skip” Travis, a security guard at Entergy Nuclear's Indian Point Units 2 & 3 atomic reactors near New York City:

"...said as much as one-third of the plant’s security force is subpar, with some officers openly professing that they would not engage an enemy if attacked.

He blamed Entergy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for lax security standards and a 'security culture mindset' that calls for doing the bare minimum rather than what it would take to repel an attack. He said his complaints over the past 18 months have fallen on deaf ears.

'There is a security culture that ‘It will never happen here,' Travis said at a news conference across the street from the plant. 'That is absolutely unacceptable.'

Travis has sued Entergy for $20 million in compensation, and $1.5 billion in punitive damages. He has called on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to deploy National Guard or State Police to secure Indian Point.

The article also quoted local opponents of the nuclear power plant:

"...Gary Shaw, a market research analyst from Croton-on-Hudson, said President George W. Bush’s announcement in 2002 that nuclear plant diagrams had been found in Afghanistan left him no doubt Indian Point was vulnerable to attack.

'We all knew they were talking about Indian Point. Security has always been an issue, and they always bluster about how good their security is,' Shaw said.

Susan Shapiro, an attorney from Pomona who attended the news conference, said the plant and its security 'is the elephant in the room.'

'Everyone’s living with it in their backyard,' said Shapiro, who sits on the board of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an Indian Point opponent. 'You know it’s there. It’s in the back of everyone’s mind.' "

Although U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) spokesman Neil Sheehan said the NRC’s computerized records didn’t show any high-level infractions at Indian Point as far back as 1996, the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) published a major expose of security lapses at Indian Point on the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Indian Point, surrounded by 21 million people within 50 miles, may be the single worst catastrophic security vulnerability in North America. Lead 9/11 attacker Mohammad Atta had considered attacking Indian Point instead of the World Trade Center, according to Khaleid Sheikh Mohammad, as well as the 9/11 Commission Report. Al Qaeda did not approve the attack on Indian Point, according to KSM, because "it did not want things to get out of hand," but had not ruled out such attacks in the future.

Update on October 19, 2012 by admin

LoHud.com had published an earlier article, in which Travis detailed a history of security failures at Indian Point dating back years.

The article reports:

“I understand they’re in business to make money ... but my job, my concern, my obligation is to defend that facility against radiological sabotage,” Travis said during an interview Wednesday, frequently repeating his belief that a terrorist attack on the plant is inevitable. “It was never my intention to hurt them. ... This is not a vendetta. This is holding them accountable.”...

“I will not sit idly by while they put profits over lives,” Travis said. “I don’t ever want to be in a position in my life to say, ‘I told you so.’ ”