How difficult to attack a Nuclear power station?

[deeps]

If for example, you were a sleeping terrorist and had managed to get a job in the station, would sabotage still be extremely difficult from the inside?

[Olf]

It would be quite dangerous. Lots of radioactivity.

Edited by Olf on Friday 28th November 22:11

[andy-xr]

You probably dont want to think about that too much



(Hello? GCHQ? No, he's not with me)

[sstein]

I would imagine most of the emergency systems are automated to the point where human interference can't over-ride them ?

-

Stuart

[deeps]

Oh I do . But not because I live just across the bay from Hinkley Point, but because I do perceive it as a very real threat for the not so distant future.

[Marf]

I should imagine sabotage would be pretty hard if you were asleep

[deeps]

sstein said:

I would imagine most of the emergency systems are automated to the point where human interference can't over-ride them ?

-

Stuart

But wasn't Chernobyl down to human error? I'm not sure about that.

[MonkeyHanger]

deeps said:

If for example, you were a sleeping terrorist and had managed to get a job in the station, would sabotage still be extremely difficult from the inside?

You'd be stopped before you did any damage, probably by a sleeping Policeman...

[odyssey2200]

It's Ok

All the nuclear power stations are in the hands of the French now so they will be nice and safe.

[Disco_Dale]

deeps said:

sstein said:

I would imagine most of the emergency systems are automated to the point where human interference can't over-ride them ?

-

Stuart

But wasn't Chernobyl down to human error? I'm not sure about that.

Chernobyl was down to human error over a long period by several people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster It was also a very old and inherantly more dangerous nuke station than we use here these days.

All that said, it could still happen. If enough people are incompetent enough it could happen. Throw in the possibility of people actively trying to make it happen and it's not difficult to imagine.
But as alluded to above, there are far easier targets.

[Dirty Boy]

I have a good mate who works at Sizewell, he assures me Chernobyl cannot happen in UK power stations.

Also the dome at sizewell is designed to withstand the impact of a passenger plane being flown into it.

And, I doubt any one single person could do any major harm even if they were on the inside.

[sleep envy]

would be considerably easier if the terrorist was awake

[Chrispy Porker]

Easy to attack.
Successfully attack is the hard bit.

[aspender]

Dirty Boy said:

Also the dome at sizewell is designed to withstand the impact of a passenger plane being flown into it.

Did they design ahead for the A380?

[Danger_Mouse]

sleep envy said:

would be considerably easier if the terrorist was awake

[TWSTEEL]

I imagine such a terrorist attack might prove difficult.
However, because airport security is so tight on passenger flights, I don't think it beyond the realms of imagination to pack a commercial freight plane with explosives/fuel and do a 9/11 attack on a power station. Even a moderate sized freight carrier could be loaded with huge amounts of explosives. You might well be shot down in a no-fly zone which I'm sure there are around these installations, but you never know...............................

[trampagne]

Why would you want to attack a British power station when more than enough "here's what I made earlier" warheads have gone missing from the country formerly known as the USSR?


ETA: With the current news, the government will cause more rolling blackouts than a dead nuclear powerstation.

Edited by trampagne on Friday 28th November 22:54

[Cara Van Man]

deeps said:

If for example, you were a sleeping terrorist and had managed to get a job in the station, would sabotage still be extremely difficult from the inside?

I reckon it would take someone with slightly more imagination, guile and intelligence than someone who advertised on a motoring forum for advice to mount a credible attack on Sizewell B.

Try www.howtoattackanuclearpowerstation.com

HTH

[Chris_w666]

Dirty Boy said:

And, I doubt any one single person could do any major harm even if they were on the inside.

:cough:

[TWSTEEL]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

You realise of course what you've just done!

Deeps will now have an array of telescopes monitoring the shipping around Hinkley Point...................just in case