Three Mile Island on Alert After 'Credible' Threat

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011018/ts/attack_airport_dc_2.html

Thursday October 18  6:22 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in
Pennsylvania was on high alert on Thursday after receiving a ``credible
threat'' against the installation, plant officials said.

  ``We were notified last night that a security threat had
been made against Three Mile Island. That threat was deemed credible. We
took extra security measures and we remain at that heightened state of
alert,'' said David Carl, spokesman for operators Exelon Nuclear.

  Nearby Harrisburg International Airport and Lancaster
airport were shut down for four hours late on Wednesday because of the
threat, which came a week after the FBI issued a warning about possible
additional attacks on U.S. interests at home or abroad following the
Sept. 11 assaults on New York and Washington by hijacked commercial
airliners.

  A Harrisburg airport police spokesman said all flights in
and out of the airport were stopped for four hours until about 1 a.m. on
Thursday morning.

  ``We were closed because of security concerns for four
hours, but we reopened at around 1 a.m.,'' the spokesman said.

  Local television stations said temporary flight
restrictions were put into effect for a 20-mile radius around the
airport and military aircraft were dispatched to protect Three Mile
Island -- the site in 1979 of the worst nuclear accident in the United
States.

  Carl said work continued overnight at the plant and that
none of the 800 or so workers was evacuated. He declined to give details
of the specific nature of the threat, but said Three Mile Island had
activated its emergency response facilities, including a technical
support center and information center, as a precaution.

  ``We did not reach a level where we had to declare a formal
emergency,'' Carl said. He said no incident had taken place overnight
but that heightened security measures would remain in place ``as long as
are needed.''

  The FBI and Federal Aviation Administration could not be reached for
comment.

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