Posted on 04/24/2007 2:53:01 PM PDT by 3AngelaD
It is a looming, and to some ominous, presence in the desert west of Phoenix. But an apparent breach of security at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station has prompted a state corporation commissioner to call for a special investigation. She describes the situation as an example of "significant incompetence."
"It's an unacceptable situation and I think the company has a lot of questions to answer," said Commissioner Kris Mayes.
According to court documents, former Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station engineer, Mohammad Alavi, 49, is accused of illegally downloading information about the plant's operation and taking it with him to Iran.
Mayes has written a strongly worded letter to her colleagues asking that a specific date and time be set aside to probe Arizona Public Service about security at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station.
"At some point this becomes an incompetence issue," Mayes said. "And we cannot have instances of incompetence when it regards Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station. It's very frustrating."
Arizona Public Service officials maintain the software did not compromise plant security and that at no time was there any physical or cyber threat to the public.
Mayes is not impressed.
"I don't care what kind of software it is," Mayes said. "APS can not be allowing former employees to download software having to do with their power plant."
Sharing Mayes' concern, if not her angst, is Gov. Janet Napolitano.
"Everybody is concerned about that jointly," said Napolitano during a Victims' Rights press conference. "So obviously there was something that went awry here. We need to get to the bottom of it and the appropriate authorities are doing that...
Get off his case...Mo is probably doing work on his well earned vacation, don't you know?
Oh well....nobody is going to do anything about muslims until a nuke goes off in the U.S....maybe not even then.
When the nuke goes off....maybe it will be near the hill....where Dingy Harry, Ms. Pelosi, John Murtha, et al can hear it clearly.
Palo Verde is the only nuclear energy facility in the world that uses treated sewage effluence for cooling water.
Due to its location in the Arizona desert, Palo Verde is the only nuclear generating facility in the world that is not located adjacent to a large body of water. Instead, it uses treated sewage from several nearby municipalities to meet its cooling water needs, recycling 20 billion US gallons (76,000,000 m³) of wastewater each year. At the nuclear plant site, the wastewater is further treated and stored in an 80 acre (324,000 m²) reservoir for use in the plant’s cooling towers.
As far as safety is concerned
In an Arizona Republic article dated February 22nd, 2007, it was announced that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had decided to place Palo Verde into Category 4, making it the most monitored nuclear power plant in the United States. The decision was made after the NRC discovered that electrical relays in a diesel generator did not function during tests in July and September of 2006.
The finding came as the “final straw” for the NRC, after Palo Verde had several citations over safety concerns and violations over the preceding years, starting with the finding of a ‘dry pipe’ in the plant’s emergency core-cooling system in 2004.
If thing leaks, you will be able to buy property real chaep in Feenix - once it stops glowing.....
PV is downstream (though upwind) of PHX.
Jucier details here, including his recent $98,000 bank deposit.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0421nuclear0421.html
Start with an employee named Mohammad Alavi. Don't those people do background checks?
I just thought it funny they would build a nuke plant in the middle of the desert.
Then use sewage to cool it.
And send the power to SoCal.
Just so funny.
Sometimes you can’t make this stuff up. The fact than an IRANIAN got a security clearance to work in a nuke plant continues to blow my mind. What are they thinking? Next: Willie Sutton receives security clearance to work at Fort Knox.
Well, according to one of the other stories, the info he stole and took to Iran included plans of the plant.
What is it with Arizona and industrial espionage? Some guy out here got caught doing shady stuff at an Intel plant, too, about ten years back.
So I guess he defrauded the government of Iran out of that $98,000? Or they just paid him that money as a reward for moving back home?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.