Authorities Hunt Driver Who Tried to Ram Nuclear Power Plant Security - The Daily Beast
Authorities Hunt Driver Who Tried to Ram Oconee Nuclear Station Security
Authorities Hunt Driver Who Tried to Ram Nuclear Power Plant Security
MELTDOWN
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Authorities in South Carolina are searching for a driver who allegedly drove through a fence and attempted to hit security officers at a nuclear power plant on Thursday evening. The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that deputies were called to the Oconee Nuclear Station at around 8:05 p.m. after a white male drove a silver 2002 Toyota Camry through the exit side of the gate at the plant. The car smashed into pop-up security bollards activated by the plant’s security, the sheriff’s office said, and then attempted “to hit the security officers” blocking him on a dirt road. The motorist also allegedly tried to “hit a security truck with a guard in it” as he fled the plant via its exit. He then proceeded to a property a few miles away where shots were fired—though the source of the shots has not yet been determined.
Read it at Oconee County Sheriff’s Office
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.