Nuclear Plant Security and Cyber Terrorism

3 - Three Mile Island - USA, Chernobil - Ukraine, Chalk River - Canada, Windsckale Pile -England, Greifswalld - Germany, Mihama, Tsuruga and Tokaimura - Japan, Kansai, Areve and Tricastin - France, Kystin – Russia, Hungary, Paks block 2 and elsewhere.

4 - For example in January, 2003 the SQL Slammer worm disrupted the operation of some 13,000 ATMs on the Bank of America network or in 2008 the Russians shut down the communication network of Georgia. The American government maintains a Cyber Terrorist Watch List, yet it has found that during the first half of 2008, only 1% of the cyber attacks came from sources on that list, while 35% originated elsewhere from within the United States.

5 - There is over 2,000 tons of weapons grade highly enriched uranium in storage around the world and some of these are already supplying a black market. For example, in November 2007 a gang was arrested in Slovakia that was trafficking in uranium which could have been used to build dirty bombs (other such arrests been reported from Russia, Kazahstan, China and Lybia). 50 kg of 85% uranium is the minimum requirement for building a nuclear bomb. In addition to weapons grade waste, the spent fuel rods from regular reactors are also in temporary storage. The United States alone is storing some 30,000 tons of spent fuel rods and 380,000 m³ of high level radioactive waste. Because no permanent disposal method been found, the nuclear waste is stored in water basins or in steel casks by the individual nuclear power plants. In the USA, weapons grade plutonium from dismantling nuclear weapons is stored in casks outside Amarillo, Texas. Regular reactors are also in temporary storage. The United States alone is storing some 30,000 tons of spent fuel rods and 380,000 m³ of high level radioactive waste. Because no permanent disposal method been found, the nuclear waste is stored in water basins or in steel casks by the individual nuclear power plants. In the USA, weapons grade plutonium from dismantling nuclear weapons is stored in casks outside Amarillo, Texas.

6 - A worm is a self-replicating virus that does not alter files but resides in active memory and duplicates itself there. Worms use parts of an operating system that are automatic and usually invisible to the user. It is common for worms to be noticed only when their replication has already consumed system resources, slowing or halting the operation of the system. They differ from viruses as viruses need a host file, make their presence known by presenting messages and take up computer memory leading to system crashes. Worms on the other hand exist inside of other files, often in Word or Excel documents and cause the entire document to travel from computer to computer as a worm. The Slammer Worm, also known as Sapphire and SQL Hell is the fastest computer worm yet in history. It infected more than 90% of vulnerable hosts within 10 minutes and reached its full scanning rate (of more than 55 milion scans/second) in 3 minutes.

7 - This would include not only the operating plants, but also the 13 plants that have been shut down and the 10 plants that have been decommissioned.

8 - Past accidents included the partial meltdown at Three Miles Island caused by a failed relief valve and faulty level and temperature sensors, Chernobil caused by the disabling of the control computer ny the operators and a number of others including Chalk River, Canada, Windsckale Pile, England, Greifswalld, Germany, Mihama, Tsuruga and Tokaimura in Japan, Areve, Tricastin, etc,France, Kystin, Russia and elsewhere.