Man arrested for ramming car through gate at S.C. nuclear power plant - UPI News
Man arrested for ramming car through gate at S.C. nuclear power plant - UPI.com
1 of 2 | Doyle Wayne Whisenhunt, of Lockesburg, Ark., was arrested on charges of attempted murder, malicious injury to personal property and unlawful entry into an enclosed place. Photo courtesy Oconee County Sheriff's Office/Facebook
Nov. 4 (UPI) -- A 66-year-old Arkansas man has been arrested after he allegedly rammed his car through security gates at a South Carolina nuclear power plant and tried to hit security guards.
Doyle Wayne Whisenhunt, of Lockesburg, Ark., w as arrested Friday on charges of attempted murder, malicious injury to personal property and unlawful entry into an enclosed place after an incident a day earlier at Oconee Nuclear Station.
Whisenhunt was taken into custody at an abandoned home in South Carolina, police said.
The incident unfolded about 8 p.m. when a man drove a silver 2002 Toyota Camry through the facility's exit gates.
"After the vehicle struck the pop-up barricades that security at the plant activated, the driver backed the vehicle up and proceeded down a dirt road, where Duke Energy security blocked the vehicle in," the Oconee County Sheriff's Office said. "The driver then drove through a fence after attempting to hit the security officers."
The man then drove into nearby Pickens County and pulled onto some property, where shots were fired. Sheriff's office investigators said they don't know who fired shots, but neither security officers nor deputies used their weapons.
Whisenhunt was also charged in a separate hit and run from earlier the same evening.
Oconee Nuclear Station has three reactors and is one of the nation's largest nuclear plants. The plant, located on the shores of Lake Keowee, began operating in 1973 and includes a public attraction called World of Energy.
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.