This is not an opinion piece on the pros/cons of nuclear power. What I am concerned about and have been speaking out for decades is the safety of the plants. While the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) points to the fact that the reactor is “hardened” (meaning that the reactor has a concrete shield that can withstand attacks), the reactor itself is not the most vulnerable part of the facility.
Most people are unaware that sophisticated, unidentified drones have been hovering over all of our nuclear power plants for decades, some as long as 80 minutes. There have been approximately a hundred such incidences documented by the NRC.
What bothers me is that the agencies that are supposed to protect us seem to be doing nothing.
Besides being “hardened,” we were assured that our nuclear facilities were safe because of the protected space around them. Well, that “security” didn’t stop the drones, some of which were the size of small airplanes. We now know that these drones can not only do sophisticated mapping but also be able to launch artillery strikes.
These surveillance drones have been in so-called “protected” air space with no consequences. The NRC simply requires that they be reported.
I fail to understand why agencies weren’t prepared to shoot down such direct intrusions into the airspace and allow them to hover over our nuclear plants and military bases, even after so many incidences of security breaches. Apparently, the agencies aren’t authorized to do so. Why not?
Furthermore, the most vulnerable part of the nuclear plant isn’t the reactor, it’s the spent fuel pools. This is where the highly radioactive rods are placed before they are put into the safer dry casks.
That building is not hardened. There is no reinforced concrete covering. It has a simple roof that any projectile could easily penetrate. An employee once described it as being like the “roof over Walmart.”
Any intrusion into that facility’s pools would set off a cesium fire, which, according to PG&E’s own environmental impact report, such a fire would render the entire county of San Luis Obispo as “uninhabitable.” The words “cesium fire” are misleading as it wouldn’t be what we usually know as a “fire.” It would actually form a colorless cloud that would drift wherever the wind happens to be blowing. Can you imagine the impact if such a poisonous cloud drifted southward toward Los Angeles. Or, if we should be experiencing Santa Ana winds, northward toward the Bay Area?
The description of our entire county being “uninhabitable” should warrant more action than simply reporting yet another intrusion into our nuclear facilities’ airspace. What are we waiting for? When I was a San Luis Obispo County supervisor, I presented these questions to the NRC and they did not deny any of these concerns. The only semi-answer I got was that “it would be too dangerous.”
The current administration is weakening the already feeble enforcement by the NRC. It’s time to let Congress know that reactor host communities deserve better protections from these new and emerging threats. ∆
Peg Pinard is the former chair of the SLO County Board of Supervisors. Send a response for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 2 – 12, 2025.