Safety At Stake / Internal Threats Need Attention

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States there have been a number of other significant terrorist attacks in the world. Also, the threat of new diseases and cyberterrorism has grown. Is Japan fully prepared to deal with such threats? This fifth installment of the latest "Planning National Strategies" series focuses on changes in society needed to handle threats.

After an incident involving a large remote-controlled Self-Defense Forces helicopter hovering over a nuclear power plant, the government received a fax that said: "A chopper could crash due to running out of fuel after flying for a long time. The only way to avoid a disaster is to shut down all the nuclear power plants that are running and those being inspected."

The scenario is from the novel "Tenku no Hachi" (Bees in the Sky), by popular novelist Keigo Higashino.

The story is about employees of a nuclear power-related firm who launch a terrorist attack.

Terrorist attacks on nuclear facilities could come in two forms. One is an external threat, meaning terrorists attack a facility from outside. The other is an internal threat, in which employees of a nuclear power plant destroy the facility or steal nuclear materials. "Tenku no Hachi" is a story about this second type of attack.

In September, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry's panel on controlling the safety of research reactors, which supervises nuclear research organizations, compiled a report on measures to deal with internal threats.

The report listed examples of internal threats, including employees being bribed or coerced and employees carrying out illegal acts for ideological or religious reasons.

The central control room and fuel storage facilities of nuclear power plants could be attacked by those who can enter unescorted.

Staff members privy to classified information on protecting nuclear materials also could pose an internal threat.

Specifically, in addition to employees of electric power firms and nuclear research institutes, subcontractors, security guards and facility maintenance workers could conduct terrorist attacks.

In Japan, electric power firms and research institutes are tasked with checking their employees' backgrounds.

A senior staffer of a nuclear research institute said that employees' resumes do not show whether they have criminal records.

"No one knows whether they have debts, so it's difficult to take countermeasures for internal threats," he said.

Major European countries and the United States have a system allowing them to use state information on criminals to confirm the trustworthiness of employees and identify suspicious characters.

In the United States, operators of nuclear-related institutes inquire with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other organizations to see whether their employees have criminal records and debts in their past and also to check for alcohol or drug addiction.

In Britain, the government checks whether such employees have criminal records or debts. Military recruits, law enforcement officers and intelligence agents also are subject to background checks on the ground that personal privacy has to take a back seat to the country's security and risk management.

Japan, which has relied on the belief that employees are inherently good, had to adopt a background check system after the International Atomic Energy Agency demanded in the 1999 Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Facilities Rev. 4 that member countries determine the trustworthiness of their employees.

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry's subcommittee on nuclear disaster prevention, which supervises commercial nuclear power plants, compiled in June a report on measures to cope with internal adversaries at nuclear facilities.

The report says the government should establish a system for cross-sectional background checks on officials responsible for defense and law and order.

The education ministry's report also contains a similar recommendation.

The two reports said ministries and agencies have to thoroughly discuss the problem, meaning that because one ministry alone cannot do it, the Cabinet Office, which governs the entire administration, should take the initiative.

After receiving the report, a senior official of the office said it should continue discussing the problem because background checks are needed to prevent terrorism.

In other words, the proposal was shelved.

An official in charge of terrorism prevention said none of the ministries and agencies want to order background checks for fear of infringing on privacy.

"Without public support, they're shunning responsibility," he said.

Since background checks could infringe on privacy, ministries and agencies are handling the problem with kid gloves.

The government has yet to map out a way to balance countermeasures for crises with protection of individual rights.

Oct. 26, 2005

Source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20051026TDY04004.htm


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