Update April 26:
Was the Terrorist on TVA property (dirt) or shooting from the boat?
This is what happens when you think you need to lie or provide selective information in the name of altruism or doing good.
You understand what's going on. They get into a big accident, the story is going to crazily switch between the intruder fired shots while on their property, to the intruder fired shots while he was in a boat. This is TMI where they are talking in a untrustworthy way...we could instantly lose confidence in the industry and the NRC if they talk like this in a big accident. And the NRC is too indifferent to catch it and provide feedback to the utilities with how their message is getting out to the community...
Freaking FBI must be asleep at the switch...
You catch how the story obscenely shifted from the intruder fired on TVA's property and then to today that he was in a boat.
You can't trust anyone. It was important identifying they escaped by boat first, as this would key peoples memory if you wanted the crowd sourcing public input...
What is WBIR channel 10 on dope...they don't even question their own reporting shift from the TVA property to the boat...
We got a brain dead southern media...
... Generally all this secrecy by the system, FBI, TVA and the NRC...it makes all the player unaccountable for making the system serve our higher national interest...
Today- the shooter was shooting in the boot
WBIR 10: KNOXVILLE April 25 — Investigators are running down leads in an early Sunday shootout between a security officer at Watt Bar Nuclear Plant and an individual on who fired multiple shots from a boat on Chickamauga Lake near Spring City, Tenn., property.
...TVA spokesperson Jim Hopson said the subject traveled up to the plant on a boat and walked onto the property. When the officer questioned the suspect, the individual fired multiple shots at the officer. The officer shot back, and when he called for backup, the suspect sped away on his boat
Oak Ridge Today April 22: As the officer came around a curve, the truck’s headlights illuminated a person on the shore of the Tennessee River, on the eastern side of the plant and near its southern boundary.
Channel 3 WRCN April 23: "When the officer came around the patrol path, one individual was on the shore. They challenged him. They spoke for a few seconds. The officer didn't believe there was any danger," TVA spokesperson Jim Hopson says.
WBIR channle 10..."Jim Hopson, a TVA spokesman stationed at Watts Bar, said the incident occurred about 2 a.m. when a TVA security officer patrolling the plant's perimeter encountered the intruder near the Tennessee River, about 200 yards away from the cooling towers in territory clearly marked as a restricted area.
"The officer challenged that individual, and the individual fired at the officer," Hopson said. "The officer returned the fire, and as the officer was calling for backup as well as switching to a higher-powered weapon [he] had in the vehicle, the individual fled the site.
"Hopson said he did not know how the person escaped -- by river or land." There was no indication that the intruder was injured.""
..."An unidentified suspect fired multiple rounds at a security officer on patrol at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant early Sunday morning, and at least one round hit the security officer’s vehicle, an official said.
The Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear security officer fired back, also shooting multiple rounds.
The suspect appeared to have initially been on the ground but may have fled in a boat, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said."
I am not kidding, the last time I criticized the security in a nuclear plant I was visited by the FBI's JTTF for making terrorist threats against a nuclear plant. They never charged me.
They made me promise not to ever say "three bad words" in a row and in the same internet paragraph or story ever again...
They were tough on me in the beginning...but generally they were good guys. They just got used by an undisclosed interest and I was a little disappointed by that. Both of them were as sharp as a tack...they were very bright..
That means, we didn't have a camera and want to disclose it, it would be embarrassing to TVA.
I was just saying, yesterday 600 pounds of WW II mortar rounds in a junkyard 20 miles from Browns Ferry? And one round detonated. But they made a lot and tested WW II munitions in that area around the war.
The FBI is leading the investigation.
It sounds like somebody intended to elevate this harmless event into the mainstream media by firing a weapon and hitting a security guard's car.
So why isn't there recorded security camera coverage with night vision thoroughly covering the river entry area. Certainly the security officer knew this area wasn't security camera'd up??
***Why wasn't the security guard wearing a military style night vision setup and why didn't he have a small camera on a head piece directly transmitting into the security control room? Why wasn't a dash cam on his security car? What I am talking about is the ability to have evidence to prosecute the bad guys.
It sounds like the intruder knew that area wasn't covered by security cameras...
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant intruder, shooting under federal probe
They have no idea if it was just one suspect, and once the gunfire, they all met back at the boat...
Is somebody trying to draw attention from another event somewhere else in the nation...
Normally the "owner controlled property boundary (fence)" have signs warnings saying no trespassing and someone passing into our property with mal-intent can be shot.
So why aren't they swarming the area with FBI agents....
So he was in a building of some kind.
...Gunshots fired involving a TVA nuclear security officer outside the Watts Bar nuclear plant
They made me promise not to ever say "three bad words" in a row and in the same internet paragraph or story ever again...
They were tough on me in the beginning...but generally they were good guys. They just got used by an undisclosed interest and I was a little disappointed by that. Both of them were as sharp as a tack...they were very bright..
And everyone knows in a situation like this with manpower in the ready...he should have backed off until help arrived. He should have gone into a "eyes on mode" and never confronted such a dangerous situation by himself. There should have been no conversation attempt. TVA should have called a terrorist emergency to the outside authorities saying terrorists were on site and leaving by boat. It is ridiculous only getting a UE with bullets going into the front window of a police cruiser.So why isn't TVA show-boating that guard in the media like the Boston police heroes? He is a nuclear power plant security guard and his actions are certainly heroic. Why aren't they happy to show off all these nuclear security guards and much worthy of public display?Why are they so insecure with raising the status of nuclear security guards in the eyes of the public?
What I don't see at 2 am in the night...his pistol or long arm immediately out of his holster and pointing it at the potential terrorist. I don't see the presumption of it could be a terrorist in our state of emergency with the Boston event. .
You know, get down on the ground with your hands above your head, or you are a fucking dead man...
Did he contact the security control room about a unauthorized person(s) on the site before he got out of the car and struck up a conversation?
Everything about this guy's job was about him being the first one to discovered a ongoing terrorist action before he got shot...report it to the control room, eyes on, and demanding off site police resources and others to counteract the security threat. The deal is for your head to stay ahead of the ball...
That means, we didn't have a camera and want to disclose it, it would be embarrassing to TVA.
He also would not comment on whether the gunfire exchange was captured on camera, saying he couldn’t reveal information on plant safeguards.
"Army, ATF lock down school, detonating WW II explosives in Morgan County"...See, I would think saying something like "our site is fully camera'd up"...you have no chance of getting away with anything. Then prove what TVA says by getting the pictures up in the media. That more than anything else, would keep the bad guys away..this place is known to be locked up tight.
My National Security Philosophy: Crush The Monsters Before We Lose Faith In Government! This politically correct talk is going to destroy us.Hopson declined to comment on the specific weapons carried by plant officers. He also would not comment on whether the gunfire exchange was captured on camera, saying he couldn’t reveal information on plant safeguards.
So why didn't TVA and the FBI immediately make a request for crowd sourcing to the greater community, much like solved the Boston terrorist event. The, we are looking for a white man with a black hoody.We got a huge monster growing in our country where we hide our faults and accountability under the umbrella of national security restriction. We should never allow our weakness to override our Constitutional ideas...
TVA says they have to withhold information to not disclosed tactics of plant protection. So they are going to put marginal security and safety issues over catching a terrorist.
Can you see them in a court proceeding against a terrorist....we can't disclose that because it might show security devices and issues. So they let the monster terrorist go free.
I am just saying this whole thing looks like it was shaped to protect the credibility and the image of a nuclear plant and TVA .
Right, in a dire national emergency, we are going to lose the trust of TVA and our government if they begin to withhold information from the public in order to protect the image of organizations, businesses and government itself. All our typical organizations and government agencies put their own selfish interest above doing good. Our greatest national security interest is the trust and integrity of government!
The overall national homeland security philosophy I would ascribe to... is we dominate science, national intelligence and military resources...where we would in very limited situations ever trade constitutional ideals of transparency for national security.
I mean we could crush the bad guys first before we would hide public interest...
Anyways post 9/11, they decided to hide corporate wrong doing about plant security and public accountability, because they feared security issues was impacting the image of nuclear power.
Call me crazy, the event happened around 2am Sunday morning. The timing sure sounds like they wanted to catch the one week anniversary of the Boston bombing in the media (Monday).It sounds like the individual was waiting for the security guard...was trying to create a scene.
"The episode began when a security officer on patrol outside Watts Bar plant noticed an individual standing on the bank of the Tennessee River on plant property. Hopson said the officer challenged the individual, believed to be a white male wearing a hooded sweatshirt"Canadian terrorist today...al Qaeda elements living in Iran!
TORONTO -- Two men were arrested and charged with plotting a terrorist attack against a Canadian passenger train, police said Monday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Monday that Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, who live in Montreal and Toronto areas, were conspiring to carry out an al-Qaida supported attack against Via Rail, but posed no immediate threat.
"It was definitely in the planning stage but not imminent," RCMP chief superintendent Jennifer Strachan told reporters.
Charges against the two men include conspiring to carry out an attack and murder people in association with a terrorist group. Police said the men are not Canadian citizens, but declined to say where they were from.
The investigation was part of a cross-border operation involving Canadian law enforcement agencies, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
NYT: Assistant Commissioner James Malizia said that the two suspects had received “direction and guidance” from “Al Qaeda elements living in Iran,” but that there was no evidence that the effort was sponsored by the government of Iran.How about a conspiracy by the security guards to stage a fake terrorist attack...so it gives them leverage for a pay raise and elevated status?
To think about it, what if this terrorist shot the security guy dead and he was running around in Tennessee without any legal evidence to prove how it was done. Think of the huge headlines then. Nuclear guard shot dead...nobody knows how it happened.So "fisherman and visitors" are allowed into this area during daylight...why would you even want to shoot at an officer. If you were kids or fishermen, bet you they would just kick you out...
It sounds like somebody intended to elevate this harmless event into the mainstream media by firing a weapon and hitting a security guard's car.
So why isn't there recorded security camera coverage with night vision thoroughly covering the river entry area. Certainly the security officer knew this area wasn't security camera'd up??
***Why wasn't the security guard wearing a military style night vision setup and why didn't he have a small camera on a head piece directly transmitting into the security control room? Why wasn't a dash cam on his security car? What I am talking about is the ability to have evidence to prosecute the bad guys.
"The NRC has dispatched two security inspectors from the Atlanta office to review the incident and the TVA response."The NRC has dispatched two security inspectors from the Atlanta office to review the incident and the TVA response.
It sounds like the intruder knew that area wasn't covered by security cameras...
Watts Bar Nuclear Plant intruder, shooting under federal probe
by Pam Sohn
The FBI has joined the TVA and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission investigating a trespasser who exchanged gunfire with a security officer on the property of the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant early Sunday morning.Drudge-UK Mirror
It is unclear why the intruder -- who escaped -- was there, and investigators are saying little.
But the nuclear plant, like all federal facilities, remains under high security alert in the aftermath of the Boston bombings last week, and investigators combed the area -- even with helicopters and surveillance aircraft -- for well over 12 hours Sunday.
"It's been a long day," FBI Special Agent Ed Galloway said Sunday evening. "All I can say is that we are devoting our resources and we are committed to resolving any issues here."
TVA officials said there was no threat to public safety or the security of the plant as the shots were fired well away from the plant's "protected area."
Jim Hopson, a TVA spokesman stationed at Watts Bar, said the incident occurred about 2 a.m. when a TVA security officer patrolling the plant's perimeter encountered the intruder near the Tennessee River, about 200 yards away from the cooling towers in territory clearly marked as a restricted area.
"The officer challenged that individual, and the individual fired at the officer," Hopson said. "The officer returned the fire, and as the officer was calling for backup as well as switching to a higher-powered weapon [he] had in the vehicle, the individual fled the site."
The officer was not injured, though his truck was struck, he said, and both the intruder and the officer fired multiple shots.
Hopson said he did not know how the person escaped -- by river or land. There was no indication that the intruder was injured.
He said investigators -- along with Rhea and Meigs County officials -- spent hours combing the riverbanks around the plant and across the Chickamauga Reservoir on the Meigs County side.
"A very detailed search of the site [including the plant's protected area] ... did not turn up any threats, which was why we exited out of the 'unusual event' notification," Hopson said.
The incident occurred about two football fields away from what TVA refers to as the plant's "protected area" where the reactors and power production equipment sits. But the river side is where water intakes are located that carry cooling water into the plant. The water that has circulated in enclosed pipes around the plant and through cooling towers is returned to the river.
NRC spokesman Roger Hannah said inspections of the protected area, the river area and that intake pumping station were made before the unusual event alert was ended.
"The plant staff has notified the NRC that it will continue to maintain security at higher than normal levels," Hannah said, adding that two security inspectors from NRC's Atlanta office will review the incident and TVA's response.
The Watts Bar plant is near Spring City and about 48 miles northeast of Chattanooga. One reactor there is at 100 percent power, and a second reactor is under construction.
TVA has had security problems at Watts Bar before, and two contractors have been convicted of falsifying records about inspections of nonexistent electrical cable that would have served the newest reactor's cooling system.
The NRC in 2011 placed Watts Bar under a security safety flag for several months, but neither TVA nor NRC would discuss why.
U.S. District Attorney William "Bill" Killian said he could not comment Sunday about this newest security investigation.
Contact staff writer Pam Sohn at psohn@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6346.
FBI hunting 12-strong terrorist “sleeper cell” linked to brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar TsarnaevMedia:
The FBI was last night hunting a 12-strong terrorist “sleeper cell” linked to the Boston marathon bomb brothers.
Police believe Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev were specially trained to carry out the devastating attack.
More than 1,000 FBI operatives were last night working to track down the cell and arrested a man and two women 60 miles from Boston in the hours before Dzhokhar’s dramatic capture after a bloody shootout on Friday.
A source close to the investigation said: “We have no doubt the brothers were not acting alone. The devices used to detonate the two bombs were highly sophisticated and not the kind of thing people learn from Google.
“They were too advanced. Someone gave the brothers the skills and it is now our job to find out just who they were. Agents think the sleeper cell has up to a dozen members and has been waiting several years for their day to come.”...
"TVA exited the unusual event at 12:30 p.m. after performing inspections of the protected area, conducting a helicopter survey of the plant and adjacent river area and inspecting the intake pumping station. The plant staff has notified the NRC that it will continue to maintain security at higher than normal levels. 'The FBI:
The FBI responded, along with personnel from the Rhea and Meigs County sheriff’s offices, who searched both sides of the lake for the suspect. The plant is located on the Rhea County side of the lake, south of Watts Bar Dam.Riverside, they had access to all power lines going into the plant and the critical cooling intake...
They have no idea if it was just one suspect, and once the gunfire, they all met back at the boat...
Is somebody trying to draw attention from another event somewhere else in the nation...
Normally the "owner controlled property boundary (fence)" have signs warnings saying no trespassing and someone passing into our property with mal-intent can be shot.
So why aren't they swarming the area with FBI agents....
So he was in a building of some kind.
The officer encountered the suspect in a clearly marked restricted area several hundred yards from the site’s protected area, which houses the reactor and power production facilities, but still within the plant property.Sounds like the Boston neighborhood this week
The suspect fired multiple rounds at a Tennessee Valley Authority security officer who was on a routine patrol near the banks of Chickamauga Lake about 2 a.m. Sunday, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said.
This is saying the feds are hnking its a big deal.
The FBI responded, along with personnel from the Rhea and Meigs County sheriff’s offices, who searched both sides of the lake for the suspect. The plant is located on the Rhea County side of the lake, south of Watts Bar Dam
TVA: Suspect shoots at security officer at Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, officer shoots back
April 21, 2013 5pm
Federal and local authorities are continuing their search for a gunman who escaped after a shootout with a security officer on the perimeter of the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant site near Spring City, Tenn., overnight.
The suspect fired multiple rounds at a Tennessee Valley Authority security officer who was on a routine patrol near the banks of Chickamauga Lake about 2 a.m. Sunday, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said.
The officer encountered the suspect in a clearly marked restricted area several hundred yards from the site’s protected area, which houses the reactor and power production facilities, but still within the plant property.
When the officer confronted the person, “The individual fired on the officer, striking the officer’s vehicle,” said Hopson. “The officer returned fire, and as the officer was calling for backup, the individual fled the scene.”
Both parties fired multiple rounds, he added. The security officer was not hurt and, as of yet, authorities have found no evidence that the gunman was struck either, according to Hopson.
It was the first such incident at the Watts Bar plant since it became operational in 1996, he added.
The FBI responded, along with personnel from the Rhea and Meigs County sheriff’s offices, who searched both sides of the lake for the suspect. The plant is located on the Rhea County side of the lake, south of Watts Bar Dam.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared “an unusual event,” the lowest of the NRC’s four emergency classifications.
“We were on a heightened state of awareness before the event,” said Hopson, referencing last week’s bombings at the Boston Marathon.
The plant stood down from the “unusual event” classification at 12:30 p.m., once authorities sufficiently searched the property to ensure there were no threats to the site or to public safety, he said.
The plant remains on a heightened state of security, however, and the investigation is ongoing.
More details as they develop online and in Monday’s News Sentinel.
...Note: This story was last updated at 10:30 a.m.
An unidentified suspect fired multiple rounds at a security officer on patrol at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant early Sunday morning, and at least one round hit the security officer’s vehicle, an official said.
The Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear security officer fired back, also shooting multiple rounds.
The suspect appeared to have initially been on the ground but may have fled in a boat, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said.
The incident occurred just after 2 a.m. this morning on the east side of the 1,700-acre plant, near the Tennessee River, toward the plant’s southern boundary, Hopson said. The officer was several hundred yards outside the protected area where the reactor and power equipment are located.
Hopson said some information can’t be released yet, such as the identity of the security officer, or it is not available, such as the total number of rounds fired. Hopson didn’t have a description of the suspect.
“Many of the details I won’t be able to share,” he said. “The investigation is still ongoing.”
TVA declared an “unusual event,” the lowest of the four Nuclear Regulatory Commission emergency classifications.
“There was no threat to public safety during the incident and no threat to the security of the plant due to the location outside of the plant perimeter,” TVA said in a Sunday morning statement. “An investigation is under way.”
TVA said the plant remains under a heightened state of security.
“Local law enforcement agencies are assisting TVA Police with the investigation,” TVA said. “The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and appropriate state and federal agencies were notified, and the NRC has staffed its incident response center in the Region II office in Atlanta and is monitoring the events, along with the resident inspector who has responded to the site.”
Hopson said it appears that only the suspect and the security officer were involved.
The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is near Spring City, which is about 45 miles southwest of Oak Ridge. It’s in Rhea County south of Watts Bar Lake and on the north end of Chickamauga Lake.
The 40-year-old plant has one 1,100-megawatt unit that is already operating and a second is under construction
The suspect fired multiple rounds at a Tennessee Valley Authority security officer who was on a routine patrol near the banks of Chickamauga Lake about 2 a.m. Sunday, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said.
The officer encountered the suspect in a clearly marked restricted area several hundred yards from the site’s protected area, which houses the reactor and power production facilities, but still within the plant property.
When the officer confronted the person, “The individual fired on the officer, striking the officer’s vehicle,” said Hopson. “The officer returned fire, and as the officer was calling for backup, the individual fled the scene.”
Both parties fired multiple rounds, he added. The security officer was not hurt and, as of yet, authorities have found no evidence that the gunman was struck either, according to Hopson.
It was the first such incident at the Watts Bar plant since it became operational in 1996, he added.
The FBI responded, along with personnel from the Rhea and Meigs County sheriff’s offices, who searched both sides of the lake for the suspect. The plant is located on the Rhea County side of the lake, south of Watts Bar Dam.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared “an unusual event,” the lowest of the NRC’s four emergency classifications.
“We were on a heightened state of awareness before the event,” said Hopson, referencing last week’s bombings at the Boston Marathon.
The plant stood down from the “unusual event” classification at 12:30 p.m., once authorities sufficiently searched the property to ensure there were no threats to the site or to public safety, he said.
The plant remains on a heightened state of security, however, and the investigation is ongoing.
More details as they develop online and in Monday’s News Sentinel.
...Note: This story was last updated at 10:30 a.m.
An unidentified suspect fired multiple rounds at a security officer on patrol at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant early Sunday morning, and at least one round hit the security officer’s vehicle, an official said.
The Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear security officer fired back, also shooting multiple rounds.
The suspect appeared to have initially been on the ground but may have fled in a boat, TVA spokesman Jim Hopson said.
The incident occurred just after 2 a.m. this morning on the east side of the 1,700-acre plant, near the Tennessee River, toward the plant’s southern boundary, Hopson said. The officer was several hundred yards outside the protected area where the reactor and power equipment are located.
Hopson said some information can’t be released yet, such as the identity of the security officer, or it is not available, such as the total number of rounds fired. Hopson didn’t have a description of the suspect.
“Many of the details I won’t be able to share,” he said. “The investigation is still ongoing.”
TVA declared an “unusual event,” the lowest of the four Nuclear Regulatory Commission emergency classifications.
“There was no threat to public safety during the incident and no threat to the security of the plant due to the location outside of the plant perimeter,” TVA said in a Sunday morning statement. “An investigation is under way.”
TVA said the plant remains under a heightened state of security.
“Local law enforcement agencies are assisting TVA Police with the investigation,” TVA said. “The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and appropriate state and federal agencies were notified, and the NRC has staffed its incident response center in the Region II office in Atlanta and is monitoring the events, along with the resident inspector who has responded to the site.”
Hopson said it appears that only the suspect and the security officer were involved.
The Watts Bar Nuclear Plant is near Spring City, which is about 45 miles southwest of Oak Ridge. It’s in Rhea County south of Watts Bar Lake and on the north end of Chickamauga Lake.
The 40-year-old plant has one 1,100-megawatt unit that is already operating and a second is under construction
...Gunshots fired involving a TVA nuclear security officer outside the Watts Bar nuclear plant
Gunshots were fired in an incident involving a TVA nuclear security officer outside the Watts Bar nuclear plant this morning, TVA officials said in a news release.
Just after 2 a.m., Watts Bar plant staff declared an unusual event, the lowest of the NRC’s four emergency classifications, officials said in the release.
There was no threat to public safety during the incident and no threat to the security of the plant due to the location outside of the plant perimeter, officials said. An investigation is underway.
The incident occurred on the Tennessee River side of the plant property, but several hundred yards from the site’s protected area, which houses the reactor and power production facilities. The site remains under a heightened state of security. Local law enforcement agencies are assisting TVA Police with the investigation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has staffed its incident response center in the Region II office in Atlanta and is monitoring the events, according to the release.
...TVA Police along with other authorities are investigating after a shooting involving a TVA nuclear security officer at their Watts Bar plant.
Officials at the plant say the shooting happened early Sunday morning just after 2 a.m. on the Tennessee River side of the plant property.
The incident is being labeled as an "unusual event," the lowest of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's four emergency classifications.
In a release Sunday morning, TVA stated the incident happened several hundred yards from the sites protected area, which houses the reactor and power production facilities.
No suspect has been named in the investigation, and plant officials say there was no threat to public safety or the security of the plant.
Officials say the site remains under a heightened state of security, and the NRC has been notified, along with other federal agencies.