Security around nuclear power plants has always been tight, but after 9/11 security was further heightened at both California-located facilities. The local San Luis Obispo newspaper, The Tribune, reported that during the first post-9/11 media tour of Diablo Canyon, in December 2001, Pacific Gas and Electric “showed reporters a line of CHP patrol cars parked conspicuously at the main gate and new concrete traffic barriers designed to stop speeding cars.” As plant manager David Oatley related, “Added security precautions taken at Diablo Canyon basically amount to “more guards, more guns and fewer visitors.”
On top of this, at Diablo Canyon, a one-mile exclusion zone by sea was added. A nearby coast guard cutter is often employed to shoo boats from the exclusion zone and it has been reported that California Highway Patrol helicopters using bullhorns have redirected stray boats from the imaginary perimeter too. Interestingly enough, there are no airspace restrictions. However, Vandenburg Air Force Base, a U.S. military installation, is only fifty miles away, if air support is needed to address an imminent security threat.
On top of this, at Diablo Canyon, a one-mile exclusion zone by sea was added. A nearby coast guard cutter is often employed to shoo boats from the exclusion zone and it has been reported that California Highway Patrol helicopters using bullhorns have redirected stray boats from the imaginary perimeter too. Interestingly enough, there are no airspace restrictions. However, Vandenburg Air Force Base, a U.S. military installation, is only fifty miles away, if air support is needed to address an imminent security threat.
These real-life security precautions are highlighted as part of the ongoing murder investigation in Breach of Trust. In chapter 2 of the novel, Connor Smythe says:
“The two employees were conducting routine maintenance. As you know, we draw cooling water from the ocean, and they were checking to see if there was a significant kelp buildup.”
“Manuel Santiago, The Obispo Tribune. How could a person have gained such access to the Diablo Canyon area?”
Connor was in a groove. This was his element. Thinking on his feet and being in the eye of the news hurricane. He had been waiting for this question. “Our grounds are secure. We’ve deployed state-of-the-art camera and motion-sensing equipment. We can detect a mouse as it approaches our perimeter. This suggests the victim was already motionless when he was pulled into the condenser intake structure. There was no way to detect this incident and radar sweeps indicated no vessels present in the one-mile exclusion zone on the days leading up to April twenty-sixth.”
Connor looked around the room as he spoke and observed how he held his audience’s attention, “All of these high tech preparations were added after 9/11. The Coast Guard was mandated to establish an exclusionary zone around Diablo Canyon to ensure public safety and prevent sabotage or terrorist acts. This safety zone prohibited all persons and vessels from entering the area. Even after the ban from our surrounding waters expired in March of 2002, NG&E established motion- sensing and radar detection schemes to monitor the facility and its perimeter.”
Indeed, during my pre-approved tour (complete with an earlier FBI background check) of Diablo Canyon in preparation for writing my novel, I noticed that motion detectors were used by the security team. Although falling rain is rare in southern California, the security team hates it when it does rain as many false positives of movement are reported.
Access to the nuclear generating units is by way of a security train. As you enter the control facility, General Electric “sniffers” blow air on you as a way to detect explosives (e.g. nitrates) on your person. Metal detectors then follow to check for weapons. Finally, our tour guide used a keycard and hand print combination to gain access for the tour group beyond impenetrable metal-barred gates.
Furthermore, if an employee doesn’t pass through the security train at least once every 30 days, their security card is deactivated. Similarly, if a person’s ring is removed from a finger or a hand is cut, a rescan is needed or else the hand print detector will deny that employee access to the facility.
Security remains tight to this day.
“The two employees were conducting routine maintenance. As you know, we draw cooling water from the ocean, and they were checking to see if there was a significant kelp buildup.”
“Manuel Santiago, The Obispo Tribune. How could a person have gained such access to the Diablo Canyon area?”
Connor was in a groove. This was his element. Thinking on his feet and being in the eye of the news hurricane. He had been waiting for this question. “Our grounds are secure. We’ve deployed state-of-the-art camera and motion-sensing equipment. We can detect a mouse as it approaches our perimeter. This suggests the victim was already motionless when he was pulled into the condenser intake structure. There was no way to detect this incident and radar sweeps indicated no vessels present in the one-mile exclusion zone on the days leading up to April twenty-sixth.”
Connor looked around the room as he spoke and observed how he held his audience’s attention, “All of these high tech preparations were added after 9/11. The Coast Guard was mandated to establish an exclusionary zone around Diablo Canyon to ensure public safety and prevent sabotage or terrorist acts. This safety zone prohibited all persons and vessels from entering the area. Even after the ban from our surrounding waters expired in March of 2002, NG&E established motion- sensing and radar detection schemes to monitor the facility and its perimeter.”
Indeed, during my pre-approved tour (complete with an earlier FBI background check) of Diablo Canyon in preparation for writing my novel, I noticed that motion detectors were used by the security team. Although falling rain is rare in southern California, the security team hates it when it does rain as many false positives of movement are reported.
Access to the nuclear generating units is by way of a security train. As you enter the control facility, General Electric “sniffers” blow air on you as a way to detect explosives (e.g. nitrates) on your person. Metal detectors then follow to check for weapons. Finally, our tour guide used a keycard and hand print combination to gain access for the tour group beyond impenetrable metal-barred gates.
Furthermore, if an employee doesn’t pass through the security train at least once every 30 days, their security card is deactivated. Similarly, if a person’s ring is removed from a finger or a hand is cut, a rescan is needed or else the hand print detector will deny that employee access to the facility.
Security remains tight to this day.